Beijing and Washington trade barbs over Taiwan at Shangri-La Dialogue
At the Singapore security summit, US cand Chinese defence ministers take a tough stance. The US promises to maintain Taiwan’s defence capabilities and the status quo along the Taiwan Strait. China is ready to response militarily in the event of a declaration of independence. The Ukrainian war is cited as an example.
Rome (AsiaNews) – US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin warned that China represents a growing threat to Taiwan in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual summit on security held over the weekend in Singapore.
According to Austin, China has changed its policy towards Taiwan, while the United States remains committed to the Taiwan Relations Act and to maintaining the island's military capability with the supply of defensive weapons.
Austin said that Washington opposes any unilateral change to the status quo along the Taiwan Strait, by either Beijing or Taipei.
The retired US Army four-star general slammed China's provocative behaviour in the Indo-Pacific, including its risky naval and air interceptions, and its increasingly intense military activities around Taiwan.
China claims the waters in the East and South China Sea for historical reasons. To expand their influence, the Chinese have boosted their military presence in the disputed bodies of water in recent years.
Two traditional US allies, Australia and Canada, have accused China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force of flying aircrafts near their military planes to force them to change course.
Beijing responded by saying that Canberra and Ottawa are spreading fake news. Analysts warn that any errors of assessment during these close aerial encounters could cause an escalation of the conflict.
In his remarks on Taiwan, Secretary Austin also referred to Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an "indefensible assault on a peaceful neighbor."
China rejected the comparison between Ukraine and Taiwan earlier this year. According to the Chinese, the island is part of China and its status is an internal matter not subject to international control.
Zhang Zhenzhong, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission, dismissed Washington's Indo-Pacific strategy as hegemonic and attributed tensions in the Taiwan Strait to US behaviour.
Still, various observers point out that Taiwan faces economic and military threats from China similar to those Russia vis-à-vis Ukraine.
In his address to the Shangri-la Dialogue summit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the international community should provide aid to threatened countries, such as Taiwan, before the outbreak of a possible war.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian authorities have refrained from criticising China playing a balancing act towards that superpower.
Zelensky suggested seeking diplomatic solutions to avoid conflict and support countries in difficulty, answering a question about Taiwan, without mentioning Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
“The world enables these leaders to grow their appetites for now, therefore we need a diplomatic resolution to support countries that are in need of help,” Zelensky said.
During the summit, Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe reiterated China’s threat of military action against Taiwan, saying, “If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, we are determined to fight at any costs.”
Before the summit, Austin and Wei met separately in Singapore on Friday. According to a press release by the Pentagon, the planned 30-minute meeting lasted an hour, and discussion centred mainly on Taiwan.
Wu Qian, a spokesman for China's Defence Ministry, said the two sides had agreed to maintain constant communication to control risks.
The Biden administration has stressed the need for “guardrails” to prevent tensions between the two sides in different situations.
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