Beijing would “not hesitate to start a war” if Taiwan declares independence, China’s defense minister warned his US counterpart in their first face-to-face talks, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
“If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost,” it cited Chinese Minister of National Defense General Wei Fenghe (魏鳳和) as telling US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of a summit in Singapore.
Beijing must “refrain from further destabilizing actions” on Taiwan, Austin said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
The US and China are expected to use the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major Asian security forum, to press their competing visions for regional stability, even as the war in Ukraine consumes Washington’s attention and Beijing struggles with economic pressures at home.
Austin and Wei are expected to deliver speeches at the event, which started late yesterday.
The US is seeking to use the three-day conference to push back against growing Chinese influence in the Asia-Pacific region, while also establishing guardrails to prevent competition from getting out of hand.
Photo: Reuters
Austin and Wei last spoke during a telephone call in April.
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, a key US ally, was to give the opening event’s keynote speech.
He was expected to set out his views on expanding the US concept of a free and open Asia-Pacific region with an eye to the war on Ukraine and China’s military assertiveness.
Many nations attending have resisted pressure to take sides and have sought to avoid getting caught in the middle.
Singapore-based International Institute of Strategic Studies executive director James Crabtree said that while the focus is on the US and Chinese defense heads, as they are expected to meet on the sidelines of the conference, it remains unlikely that there would be any kind of breakthrough on new areas of cooperation between the two sides.
“You look during the Ukraine crisis — that has reinforced in the eyes of both the Americans and the Chinese that they’re not really acting in a way that is honest and forthright with each other,” he said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “So part of the problem is it’s hard to see how you get better results out of that relationship.”
A flurry of bilateral talks between defense ministers have started ahead of the conference.
Austin and Singaporean Minister for Defence Ng Eng Hen (黃永宏) had one of the first bilateral discussions.
More than 30 defense ministers are in Singapore for the event.
Kishida, who had persuaded some traditional Southeast Asian partners of Russia to criticize its war in Ukraine, is expected to use his speech to bring others in Asia aboard.
Kishida has taken a tough stance on Russia’s attack on Ukraine and made frequent veiled warnings about the risk of a similar grab for territory by China.
A senior US defense official, who briefed reporters ahead of Austin’s arrival, said that the region has seen a clear trend toward self-isolating behavior by China.
Countries across the region are concerned by Beijing’s aggressive behavior, the official said, adding that the example of Ukraine looms large in the region, demonstrating the risks of disorder and spheres of influence.
The Pentagon is working to ensure that the meeting with Wei would be professional and substantive, the official said.
The US has no desire to create a public spectacle, the official said, referring to testy public exchanges between the US and China in the past few years.
The official said the US places a priority on improving crisis communications with Beijing.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under