According to Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, China will fight Taiwan’s independence “to the end”. “We will fight at all costs and we will fight to the end,” Wei said at a security conference in Singapore today. China has no other choice.
“Those who seek Taiwan independence to divide China will definitely not end well,” the minister added in a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue. “No one should ever underestimate the determination of the Chinese armed forces to protect China’s territorial integrity.”
On Friday, at a meeting with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the fringes of the Shangri-La dialogue, Wei had already threatened war if Taiwan declared independence. “If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate – no matter what the cost – to start a war,” Wei said, according to his spokesman.
USA: “Constant increase in provocative military activities”
Austin yesterday criticized China for its “provocative and destabilizing” military activities near Taiwan. Washington has observed a “steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity,” Austin said. As an example, he cited Chinese military aircraft “which have flown near Taiwan in record numbers and almost daily for the past few months.”
US President Joe Biden pledged military support to Taiwan in May in the event of a Chinese invasion, sparking outrage in Beijing.
The relationship between the two world powers has increasingly deteriorated in recent years. In particular, security issues are causing tension, affecting, among other things, Taiwan, the South China Sea and the Ukraine war.
