The US is “prepared” for war with China, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said in a media appearance on Fox News on Wednesday.
“Those who long for peace must prepare for war,” Hegseth said, adding that the US must remain strong.
“We don't seek that war," he said, adding: “We need the defense spending, the capabilities, the weapons and the posture in the Indo-Pacific” region.
Photo: Reuters
His comments came one day after the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it would “fight to the end.”
“If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” the Chinese embassy in Washington said on X earlier on Wednesday.
That mirrored a statement by Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian (林劍) at a news conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
In a news conference yesterday, Lin responded to questions about Hegseth’s statement, saying that the US official’s rhetoric was aimed at inciting confrontation and painting China to look like a threat.
“The US needs to realize that China is not a mirror image of the hegemonic US. The US should stop viewing China-US relations with an outdated Cold War mentality. The US must no longer seek to contain or go after China in the name of strategic competition,” Lin said.
In reference to war preparations, Lin said that “whatever kind of war it is, a tariff war or a trade war, a cold war or a hot war, they should not be fought and cannot be won,” seemingly softening the stance he took earlier this week.
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