Beijing “will not hesitate to start a war at all costs” if Taiwan declares independence, China’s Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told US counterpart Lloyd Austin as they met outside the dialogue. Shangri-La security. Singapore summit.
Austin called on China to “refrain from further destabilizing actions” in Taiwan, a U.S. statement said after its first round of talks.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry denounced China’s “absurd” claims to sovereignty and thanked the US for its support. “Taiwan has never been under the jurisdiction of the Chinese government and the people of Taiwan will not succumb to threats from the Chinese government force,” said ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou.
The U.S. Department of Defense said Austin “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability around the world. [Taiwan] Narrow, opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo, and called [China] to refrain from further destabilizing actions towards Taiwan ”.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Vietnam Defense Minister Phan Van Giang at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit. Photo: Roslan Rahman / AFP / Getty Images
Tensions over Taiwan have risen in particular due to rising incursions of Chinese aircraft into the island’s Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ).
Joe Biden, during a visit to Japan in May, said Washington would militarily defend Taiwan if attacked by China. Since then, the White House has insisted that its “strategic ambiguity” policy on whether or not to intervene has not changed.
Wei Fenghe reportedly told Austin that Beijing “would destroy any Taiwan independence plot and resolutely advocate for the unification of the homeland.”
With growing concern over China-Taiwan tensions, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said in a keynote speech at the summit that his government would consider acquiring a pre-emptive strike capability because “Ukraine today may be East Asia. tomorrow”.
The world must be “prepared for the emergence of an entity that tramples on the peace and security of other countries by force or threat without respecting the rules,” he said. He did not mention China by name in his address, but repeatedly called for “rule-based international order” to be maintained.
Kishida said next spring he would present a “free and open Indo-Pacific peace plan” in which Japan would provide development aid, patrol boats, maritime law enforcement capabilities and other aid to Southeast Asian countries. and the Pacific to help them better protect themselves.
Japan will offer this support to at least 20 countries, train at least 800 maritime security personnel and provide about $ 2 billion in assistance over the next three years, he said.
Kishida told his audience that improving Japan’s defense would be transparent and within the scope of its constitution.
He said the security environment in the Indo-Pacific region was deteriorating due to rising tensions in the seas of East and South China and around Taiwan.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its threat to use nuclear weapons had made matters worse, but the trend must be reversed, Kishida said, noting his position as the country’s only leader. which has suffered nuclear attacks.
“I must admit that the road to a world without nuclear weapons has become even more difficult,” Kishida said.
He described the repeated launches of North Korean ballistic missiles, including ICBMs, and the development of nuclear weapons as a serious threat to regional peace and stability. “The non-transparent build-up of military capability, including nuclear arsenals, around Japan has become a serious regional security issue,” he said.
The threat could damage non-proliferation efforts by creating a reluctance among nuclear-weapon owners to abandon them and a desire, among other things, to develop them, Kishida said.
As well as Taiwan, China and the United States have faced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Washington accusing Beijing of tacitly supporting Moscow.
China has called for talks to end the war, but has stopped before condemning Russia’s actions and has repeatedly criticized US arms donations to Ukraine. China’s expansive demands in the South China Sea have also fueled tensions with Washington.
Austin will give a speech at the forum on Saturday, followed by Wei on Sunday. The summit takes place from 10 to 12 June and takes place for the first time since 2019 after being postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With Reuters, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse