(Singapore) Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun warned Sunday that Beijing “will act with determination and force” to prevent Taiwan’s independence, but called for more military communications with the United States.
Mr Dong was speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, a major security forum where he met US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday for the first substantive talks between the two countries’ defense chiefs in 18 month.
“We have always been open to exchanges and cooperation, but this requires both sides to meet each other halfway,” Dong said.
“We believe we need more exchanges precisely because there are differences between our two militaries.”
The two defense officials spoke for more than an hour Friday in the hotel hosting the forum, which is attended by defense officials from around the world and which has become, in recent years, a barometer of relations between United States and China.
After the meeting, Mr. Austin said that telephone conversations between American and Chinese military commanders would resume “in the coming months.”
PHOTO VINCENT THIAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin
Mr. Austin thus “reaffirmed” the commitment made by Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping during a summit in San Francisco in November 2023 to resume telephone conversations at commander level in the coming months.
Beijing, for its part, welcomed the “stabilization” of relations between the two countries.
But Dong Jun also underlined on Sunday China’s determination to defend its claimed sovereignty over Taiwan.
“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has always been an indestructible and powerful force in defending the unification of the motherland, and it will act with determination and force at all times to curb Taiwan’s independence and ensure that “She never succeeds in her attempts,” Mr. Dong said.
The Chinese official warned that Beijing’s restraint in the South China Sea had “limits”, following a series of skirmishes between Chinese and Philippine ships in a disputed area.
China has shown sufficient restraint in the face of rights violations and provocations, but there are limits to this.
Dong Jun, Chinese Defense Minister
Chinese coast guard ships have used water cannons against Philippine boats several times in waters that Beijing almost entirely claims, and collisions have injured several Filipino soldiers.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who arrived in Singapore on Saturday, is due to speak at the forum on Sunday morning and have meetings with several officials, including the American Minister of Defense.