“We are not calling for confrontation or conflict. Qian, a spokesman for China’s defense ministry, said at a news conference following the meeting.Īustin said Saturday that the United States does not want a war in the region. “Defense Minister Wei Fenghe stressed that if anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will spare no effort to wage war and crush all” Taiwan independence attempts “at all costs and to resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Wu said. This includes PLA planes flying in record numbers near Taiwan in recent months – and almost daily,” he said, referring to Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Air Defense Detection Zone.Ĭhina, for its part, on Friday accused Washington Island of threatening the status quo with things like arms sales that Beijing has “seriously undermined China’s sovereignty and security interests.”ĭuring the meeting with Austin, Wei reiterated China’s long-standing position that it was ready to go to war if Taiwan declared independence from the mainland. “We have witnessed a steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan. As part of its “one China” policy, the United States acknowledges China’s view that Taiwan is part of China, but has never formally recognized Beijing’s demand for a democratic island of 23 million.
“We are determined to maintain the status quo that has served the region for so long,” he said. Taiwan played a key role in Austin’s speech, as did a bilateral meeting between Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Friday night.Īt that meeting, the two sides accused each other of trying to change the decades-long status quo with the Taiwanese government.Īustin denied such activity in Washington on Saturday. He listed a number of areas where he said China was scolding its neighbors, including sending large numbers of military aircraft to Taiwan near the sky, dangerous detentions of US Allied patrol aircraft, and illegal fishing operations that “plundered the region’s supplies.” “The PRC’s actions threaten to undermine security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific,” Austin said, using the acronym to refer to the country as the People’s Republic of China.
“Indo-Pacific countries should not face political intimidation, economic coercion or harassment by the navy,” Austin said in a keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s main defense conference.