BEIJING: China will have no choice but to “fight to the end” if attempts are made to secede Taiwan from the mainland, Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe said on Sunday, in an aggressive speech at a global defence forum in which he also attacked the US for “smearing” China.
Wei said China would do anything in its power to stop Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy which Beijing claims as its own, from becoming independent as bilateral tension with the US soars over the issue.
“If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight. We will fight at all costs, and we definitely will fight to the very end. This is the only choice for China,” Wei warned in his speech on the final day of the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.
“No one should ever underestimate the resolve and ability of the Chinese armed forces to safeguard its territorial integrity,” he said.
“Those who pursue Taiwanese independence in an attempt to split China will definitely come to no good end,” he added.
The Chinese defence minister urged the US to “stop smearing and containing China… stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop harming China’s interests”.
Wei’s strong statement comes a day after US defence secretary Lloyd Austin criticised Beijing for a “more coercive and aggressive approach to its territorial claims”.
“We’ve witnessed a steady increase in provocative and destabilising military activity near Taiwan, and that includes PLA [Chinese military] aircraft flying near Taiwan in record numbers in recent months and nearly on a daily basis,” Austin said on Saturday at the same conference.
Wei, who is also state councillor and member of the powerful Central Military Commission headed by President Xi Jinping, said the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy was trying to “hijack” the support of countries in the Indo-Pacific region to turn them against Beijing.
He said Washington was seeking to advance its own interests “under the guise of multilateralism”.
On China’s nuclear arsenal, Wei said the country has made “impressive progress” in developing new nuclear weapons, but will only use them for self-defence, and never use them first.
In response to a question about reports last year on construction of more than 100 new nuclear missile silos in China’s east, he said China “has always pursued an appropriate path to developing nuclear capabilities for protection of our country”.
“All weapons and equipment displayed at the military parade celebrating the 70th National Day in 2019 have entered service with the troops, but China does not participate in an arms race, and China’s nuclear weapon development is appropriate to the times, walking on a path of nuclear power development with Chinese characteristics,” Wei said.
Chinese, Australian defence ministers meet after three years
Australia and China’s defence ministers met for the first time in three years on Sunday, with the talks described as “an important first step” following a period of strained ties, agency reports from Singapore said.
Richard Marles, whose centre-left government came to power in May, held talks for over an hour with Wei on the sidelines of the summit on Sunday.
Marles described the meeting as “an important first step” and “very significant”.
“It was an opportunity to have a very frank and full exchange in which I raised a number of issues of concern to Australia,” said Marles, who is also Australia’s deputy prime minister.
Ties between China and Australia have been strained on several issues including trade, Beijing’s perception of Canberra’s close ties with the US and Australia’s leading role in asking for an international probe into the origin of the Covid-19 virus and China’s responsibility.
There was no statement on the meeting from the Chinese side until late on Sunday evening.