Wei Fenghe says ties are at critical juncture and puts onus on United States to improve bilateral relationship
Beijing views democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. US-China tensions over the island have risen due in particular to a growing number of Chinese aerial incursions into Taiwan’s air defence zone.Photograph: Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images
Wei said on Sunday that it was up to the US to improve the bilateral relationship, saying that the ties were at a critical juncture. In his speech, Austin had stressed the need for multilateral partnerships with nations in the Indo-Pacific, which Wei suggested was an attempt to back China into a corner.
During his address, Austin also said he wants “lines of communication” with Chinese officials to remain open. The pair held their first face-to-face talks on the sidelines of the summit in Singapore on Friday, during which they clashed over Taiwan. China has been rapidly modernising its military and seeking to expand its influence and ambitions in the region, recently signing a security agreement with the Solomon Islands that many fear could lead to a Chinese naval base in the Pacific, and breaking ground this past week on a naval port expansion project in Cambodia that could give Beijing a foothold in the Gulf of Thailand.
Lee said the situation on the Korean peninsula posed a global threat and he urged North Korea to immediately end its nuclear weapon and missile programmes.