China’s defence chief used his first major speech to a security forum to warn that anyone who “dares to separate Taiwan from China will only end up in self-destruction”.
Chinese Defence Minister Dong Jun has vowed his country will squash any “plot” aimed at Taiwanese independence, as he used a speech to Asia’s top security summit to claim China was a peace-loving nation while issuing veiled threats to the United States and its allies.
Defence Minister Richard Marles with China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun at the Shangri-La Dialogue.In his first major address to a global forum since being appointed China’s defence chief in December, Dong made clear his country was prepared to use military force to pursue its “reunification” goal, warning that anyone who “dares to separate Taiwan from China will only end up in self-destruction”.
In remarks aimed at the United States, he accused “external interfering forces” of hollowing out the One-China principle, emboldening “separatist” forces within Taiwan pushing for independence, eroding peaceful “reunification” efforts, and pursuing “illegal” contacts with the self-governed island.“They keep testing China’s red lines. For example, the red line about official engagement with Taiwan and then arms sales to Taiwan.
Li Shangfu, who was abruptly removed from his post last year and disappeared from public view for monthsChina’s increasing aggression towards Taiwan and its hostility towards the Philippines in the South China Sea have been key themes of the three-day summit, where the intensifying strategic rivalry between China and the US, and the prospect of this boiling over to a hot war, has been the underlying focus of the talks.
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