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.
“As for China’s harassment of Taiwan with military aircraft, warships, unreasonable suppression and political actions, the one being most unreasonable is China,” he added. “Taiwan does not want to close the door to China. It is China that has used various means to oppress and treat Taiwan unreasonably.”
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. The US president, Joe Biden, during a visit to Japan last month, appeared to break decades of US policy when, in response to a question, he said Washington would defend Taiwan militarily if it was attacked by China.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
‘China’s Taiwan’: Beijing’s defence minister rails against ‘smearing and interfering’ USWei Fenghe says ties are at critical juncture and puts onus on United States to improve bilateral relationship
Read more »
China will ‘start a war’ if Taiwan declares independence, says defence ministerWei Fenghe issues threat at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, while Japan PM invokes Ukraine in announcing defence strengthening
Read more »
Chinese Defence Minister says nuclear arsenal 'for self-defence' in warning to TaiwanChina's Defence Minister says China has made 'impressive progress' in developing new nuclear weapons but will only use them for self-defence, and never use them first.
Read more »
China hits back at US ‘smears’, talks of war over TaiwanChina has accused of the United States and its allies of meddling in the South China Sea and warned that its military will crush any attempt by Taiwan to secure independence.
Read more »
China will ‘start a war’ if Taiwan declares independence, says defence ministerWei Fenghe issues threat at Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore while US defence secretary denounces Beijing’s ‘destabilising’ actions
Read more »
China and US defence chiefs meet in-person to smooth relationship, but both sides trade barbs over TaiwanChina says the first face-to-face meeting 'went smoothly', but Beijing and Washington remain polarised over several volatile security situations and there was no evidence of any breakthrough on settling long-running disputes.
Read more »