An F-16V jet fighter jet landed on the runway in January for an emergency take-off as part of Taiwan’s military drills in Chiayi, Taiwan, as China ramped up its planes. PLA combat on self-governing island by 2022.
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SINGAPORE – China’s defense minister accused the US of “smearing” Beijing and said Washington was trying to “appropriate” countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
Wei Fenghe, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, said the burden of improving the troubled US-China relationship rests with Washington.
He told delegates at Asia’s leading defense dialogue and conference: “We ask the US side to stop smearing and harboring China.
“However, if you want confrontation, we will fight to the end. The militaries of the two countries should make active efforts for a positive relationship,” Wei added.
Wei said US President Joe Biden’s new Indo-Pacific strategy leads to “conflict and confrontation.”
United States announced Indo-Pacific Economic Framework, or IPEF, in May as part of a strategy for the region. IPEF involves 13 countries and does not include China.
“For us, this strategy is an attempt to build an exclusive small group in the name of a free and open Indo-Pacific, attacking the nations of our region and targeting target on a specific country,” Wei said at the conclusion of the three-day dialogue in Singapore.
“It is a strategy of creating conflict and confrontation to contain and encircle others,” he said. “China seeks peace and stability, and is not an aggressor in the Indo-Pacific,” he said, calling on the United States to “strengthen unity, oppose confrontation and division.”
During the summit, ahead of speeches by Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, China pushed back against narratives of Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific. .
Serving and retired Chinese military officials held special media briefings to counter statements by both Kishida and Austin.
Speaking on Saturday, Austin described the Indo-Pacific as a “priority theater of operations” located “at the heart of grand American strategy.” He called the Indo-Pacific strategy Released in February the focus of the Biden Administration’s upcoming National Security Strategy and his own department’s Defense Strategy.
Austin harshly criticized Beijing’s increasingly “coercive and aggressive” approach to its claims in the Indo-Pacific, where China is involved in a territorial dispute with China. Some neighboring countries include Japan, India, Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia.
Warning about Taiwan
On Sunday, Wei also issued a brief warning about Taiwan, which China considers a breakaway province to be reunited with the mainland, by force as a last resort. China will resist any attempt by Taiwan to declare independence for “the last man”, he said.
“We will fight at all costs and we will fight to the end. This is China’s only choice,” he said. “Those who pursue Taiwan’s independence in an attempt to divide China will certainly not end well.”
“It’s China’s Taiwan, a province of China. We will realize the reunification of Taiwan,” Wei said.
His remarks came a day after US Defense Secretary Austin accused China of “provocative, destabilizing” military activity near the island.
The United States is obligated to provide the self-governing island with weapons and services for self-defense under the Taiwan Relations Act.
Austin has asserted that it is China that is raising the deposit.
“We see growing coercion from Beijing. We’ve seen a steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activities near Taiwan. And that includes [People’s Liberation Army] planes fly near Taiwan in record numbers in recent months – and almost daily,” he said.
China’s Mr. Wei also called for talks between NATO and Russia to end the Ukraine war. He said that China has no treaty with Russia.
“It’s a partnership, not an alliance,” said Mr. Wei. The relationship with Russia will continue to develop. We have not provided any military or material support to Russia.
