Beijing Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe did not rule out the use of the military in the Taiwan conflict at the Shangri-La security conference in Singapore on Sunday. Taiwan is a province of China and China will definitely achieve reunification, Wei stressed.
“People want peaceful reunification,” Wei said. “China is committed to peaceful reunification with all its strength and sincerity. In case of secession, China reserves other options,” he warned.
It was not the first time that China threatened to use its military in the conflict over Taiwan. Beijing regards the country as part of the People’s Republic of China and aims to “reunify” the two territories.
Taiwan was never part of the People’s Republic of China, which was founded in 1949. The island nation has its own democratically elected government and laws. Polls have shown for years that the vast majority of Taiwanese do not want a merger with mainland China.
In recent months, amid rising tensions, fears have grown that Beijing could one day take the area by force. A military conflict would have serious consequences far beyond the region. At the end of May, US President Joe Biden stressed that the US would defend Taiwan militarily if it were attacked by China.
blatant threats
China consistently claims that Taiwan wants to change the status quo and achieve complete independence. This would mean that Taiwan would be fully recognized internationally as a legitimate state in its own right. “Those who seek Taiwan independence in order to divide China will definitely not end well,” China’s defense minister threatened on Sunday.
He accused the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan’s ruling party, of trying to change the status quo. “We will firmly defeat any attempt to seek Taiwan independence,” Wei said. “Let me get this straight: If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight. We will fight at all costs and we will fight to the end.”
Exchange of blows with the USA
The representatives of China and the USA exchanged blows on Saturday. The defense ministers of both countries met for the first time on Friday for bilateral talks. In his speech in Singapore on Saturday, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin accused Beijing of using targeted military maneuvers to destabilize the region.
“We have observed a steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan,” Austin said. This included the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) planes, which have flown over Taiwan “in record numbers” in recent months, he said austin
The US Secretary of Defense stressed that the US has an interest in maintaining the status quo and sticking to the One China policy. “We do not support Taiwan independence,” he said.
Roughly speaking, maintaining the status quo means that Taiwan is still not a fully recognized, independent country with normal diplomatic relations with countries like Germany. Like many other countries, Germany does not maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan and pursues the so-called “One China Policy”.
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On the other hand, Taiwan’s de facto status quo is still not part of the People’s Republic of China, it has its own government, its own laws, and it does maintain political relations with other countries – only that these are not official diplomatic relations.
Concerns about China’s nuclear capabilities
China rejected US Secretary of Defense Austin’s allegations on Sunday. The US should stop “slandering and containing China,” Wei said. For its part, Beijing accuses Washington of causing unrest in the region with its Indo-Pacific strategy. “For the US, the strategy is an attempt to create an exclusive small group in the name of a free and open Indo-Pacific to hijack countries in our region and target a specific country,” China’s Defense Minister Wei said Sunday a strategy aimed at creating conflict and confrontation in order to contain and encircle others.”
International observers are concerned that China has continued to expand its military and nuclear capabilities in recent years. This is only for self-defense and to protect the Chinese people, Wei said.
Another important topic at the conference was the Ukraine war, which Wei called the “Ukraine crisis”. Shortly before the war began, Russia and China had promised each other “boundless friendship” in a joint declaration. Since the start of the Ukraine war, China has avoided calling Russia’s attack as such and thereby identifying Moscow as the aggressor.
Instead, it consistently shows understanding for Russia’s alleged security concerns in the region. At the same time, the Chinese Foreign Ministry claims that NATO and the US escalated the conflict.
Washington has repeatedly warned Beijing that Russia’s military support for China would have serious consequences. When asked on Sunday, the Chinese defense minister emphasized: “China has never supported Russia militarily.”
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