U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin accused China of intensifying coercive behavior toward Taiwan, stressing that Washington would maintain its military capability to resist any force threatening the country.
Speaking at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue Defense Forum in Singapore, Austin said China was behaving provocatively in the Indo-Pacific region, ranging from dangerous naval and air maneuvers to military activity. increasingly assertive in Taiwan.
“We have seen a steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan,” Austin said Saturday. “This includes PLA planes flying close to Taiwan in record numbers in recent months.
Addressing a hearing that included General Wei Fenghe, China’s defense minister, Austin said there had been an “alarming increase” in unsafe air interceptions and clashes at sea by Chinese military ships and planes.
Austin referred to recent incidents in which Chinese Air Force fighter jets carried out “dangerous interceptions” in the South China Sea and the East China Sea of aircraft piloted by US allies, in reference in Australia and Canada.
Speaking several weeks after President Joe Biden told Tokyo that the United States would intervene militarily to defend Taiwan from any Chinese attack, Austin said Washington would adhere to the Taiwan Relations Act by making sure Taiwan maintained a capability. sufficient defense.
“And it means maintaining our own ability to resist any use of force or other forms of coercion that could endanger the security or the social or economic system of the people of Taiwan,” he added.
Austin stressed that U.S. policy toward Taiwan had not changed and that the administration remained opposed to any unilateral change to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, from Taipei or Beijing.
His comments came as US officials became increasingly concerned about the Chinese threat to Taiwan, over which China claims sovereignty.
Austin used his speech to highlight the Biden administration’s efforts to boost cooperation with allies, including the Quad, a security group that includes the United States, Japan, Australia, and India, and the pact. Aukus security agreement agreed by the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia last year. course.
Paul Haenle, director of Carnegie China, a think tank, said Austin’s speech “struck the right balance,” noting that the U.S. Secretary of Defense said U.S. policy toward Taiwan had not changed while “stressed that the key components of this policy are helping Taiwan stay afloat.” sufficient self-defense capability and maintaining a robust U.S. capability to withstand any use of Chinese force. “
Austin spoke a day after meeting with Wei, in what was the first high-level military meeting since Biden took office.
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe in the center before meeting with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of the Shangri-La forum on Saturday © Caroline Chia / Reuters
Despite a positive turnaround in the meeting between defense chiefs, China launched a strong response to Austin’s speech.
“The United States has already engulfed Europe and the Middle East, now they want to pollute Asia too? We will not allow it at all,” said Lt. Gen. .
In what the Chinese delegation called Beijing’s official response to Austin, Zhang rejected the US Secretary of Defense’s promise that Washington was not looking for a new Cold War, an Asian NATO or a region divided into hostile blocs.
“His words do not match his actions,” Zhang said. “The real intention of the US is to use this to maintain its hegemonic system. In some countries they are trying to create small circles by making ropes.” He added that the US strategy in the Indo-Pacific was one of geopolitical rivalry and bloc competition.
Pointing to the Global Security Initiative, a still vague security concept proposed by President Xi Jinping in April, Zhang said China was a “sustained collaborator and strong advocate of regional peace” and a provider of public goods, in contrast to the US. which he described as “the biggest source of instability” and a “backstage manipulator.”
Zhang also warned Washington that there was no more support for Taiwan. The United States had “seriously emptied and undermined” its promise to adhere to a one-China policy, he said, noting Washington’s approval on Wednesday of the sale of spare parts worth $ 120 million. dollars for warships in Taipei.
The measures taken by the United States last year were a reminder that Taiwan was the only problem with the most potential to bring geopolitical rivals into the conflict, Zhang said, adding, “This is extremely dangerous.”
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Wei is scheduled to address the Shangri-La dialogue on Sunday morning.
Commander-in-Chief Guo Ruobing, commander of National Defense University’s National Security College, strongly rejected Austin’s criticism of Chinese interceptions of Australian and Canadian military aircraft. “They are the ones who are disturbing the stability,” he said, adding that “the United States always says one thing but does another.” Washington has repeatedly rejected these Chinese criticisms, noting that their planes are flying in international airspace.
Austin described three areas in which the United States worked more closely with the Allies, such as sharing research and development to ensure that it had the right capabilities to deter aggression and intensify exercises and training.
He added that the U.S. Coast Guard was increasing its presence in the Indo-Pacific, a change illustrated by the fact that Admiral Linda Fagan was the first Coast Guard commander to attend the Shangri-La dialogue. .
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