Defense minister of China warned his US colleague on Friday that if Taiwan declares independence, Beijing will “not hesitate to start a war,” the latest fire between the superpowers over the island.
Wei Fenghe issued the warning as he met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin for the first time on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore.
Beijing has threatened to conquer Taiwan one day, using force if necessary, and tensions between the US and China over the issue have risen in recent months.
As per a remark from the meeting by defense ministry spokeswoman Wu Qian, Wei warned Austin that “if someone attempts to break Taiwan from China, the Chinese army would surely not hesitate to launch a war at any cost.”
According to the Chinese defense ministry, the Chinese minister vowed that Beijing would “smash to smithereens any ‘Taiwan independence’ plot. It will resolutely uphold the motherland’s unification.”
He “emphasized that Taiwan is China’s Taiwan… Using Taiwan to constrain China would never succeed,” according to the ministry.
According to the US Department of Defense, Lloyd Austin “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the (Taiwan) Strait, opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo, and called on (China) to refrain from further destabilizing actions toward Taiwan.”
Moreover, Tensions over Taiwan have risen in recent months, owing to increased Chinese aircraft incursions into the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
Uncertainty in strategy
Since then, the White House has maintained its strategy of “strategic ambiguity” on whether or not to interfere.
Most importantly, Austin is the latest top US official to visit Asia as Washington looks to refocus its foreign policy on the region following the conflict in Ukraine.
Apart from Taiwan, China and the United States have been engaged in a lot of other disputes.
They have been at odds over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Washington accusing Beijing of giving Moscow implicit assistance.
China has urged peace negotiations to end the crisis. But has refrained from denouncing Russia’s activities. It has regularly criticized US weaponry shipments to Ukraine.
China’s sweeping claims in the South China Sea have also heightened tensions with the United States.
However, with conflicting claims from Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam, Beijing claims nearly all of the resource-rich sea through which billions of dollars in maritime traffic flows yearly.
Austin landed in Singapore late on Thursday and spoke with his colleagues throughout the day on Friday.
According to a Singapore official statement, he discussed Washington’s “strategy for sustaining an open, inclusive, and rules-based regional security environment” at a meeting with Southeast Asian defense ministers.
