Beijing has warned the United States against interference in the dispute over China’s claim to power over Taiwan. Earlier, a Chinese warship pushed a US destroyer aside in the Taiwan Strait. Beijing speaks of provocation.
There was an incident between a Chinese and US warship in the Taiwan Strait. A Chinese naval ship approached the US destroyer USS Chung-Hoon in an “unsafe manner,” the US Army said on Saturday. The Chinese ship overtook the US destroyer at a distance of only about 140 meters and then turned a short distance away, as the US command for the Indo-Pacific announced.
The US Army stated that the “USS Chung-Hoon” then maintained its course but slowed down “to avoid a collision”. The USS Chung-Hoon had crossed the Taiwan Strait with a Canadian Navy vessel.
China: Patrols are provocation
China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu defended the Chinese side’s actions and blamed the US and its allies for the incident. They should take care of their own waters and airspace, he said at the international security conference Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. Countries should not seal off foreign territory and mind their own business. He sees many ships and fighter jets coming close to China. “You are not here for peaceful passage. You are here to provoke,” he added.
US ships regularly transit the Strait between China and Taiwan, but rarely do so in the company of an allied ship. Tensions between China and the United States over the Taiwan issue have escalated in recent months. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway territory belonging to the People’s Republic. The island republic, which has 23 million inhabitants, has had an independent government for more than seven decades. Beijing wants to reunite Taiwan with the mainland – if necessary with military force. Again and again China and also the USA carry out military exercises in the region.
Li warns US against interference
The conflict is one of the topics at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore with hundreds of participants from more than 40 countries. There, Li warned the US against getting involved in the dispute over Taiwan and again threatened military action against the democratic island republic. “If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not hesitate for a second,” Li said. “We will fear no opponent and resolutely protect our national sovereignty and territorial integrity regardless of the cost.”
General Li Shangfu described relations between China and the United States at a “record low” since diplomacy began in 1979. In Singapore, Li also turned down American requests to meet with his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, who was also attending. The general criticized the US supply of arms and military training to Taiwan and upgrading ties with the Taipei government. Taiwan is an internal matter of China, in which nobody is allowed to interfere. It is dangerous to undermine Beijing’s one-China principle. “Reunification” is unstoppable, the minister said.
USA: Conflict would be devastating
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned China against military action against Taiwan at the security conference. “A cross-strait conflict would be devastating,” Austin said. Such an escalation would affect the global economy “in ways we cannot imagine.”
The US opposed a unilateral change in the status quo, Austin stressed. In his view, however, a conflict is neither imminent nor inevitable. The US is determined to preserve peace and security in the Taiwan Strait, which is so important for global shipping. The Pentagon boss expressed concern about the lack of communication between the two great powers China and the USA. Open communication links are particularly important for the military and defense politicians, he added. “The right time for talks is now,” said Pistorius.
Pistorius warns against attacks security order
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is also taking part in the Shangri-La Dialogue. Against the background of tensions in the Indo-Pacific, he called for protecting the rules-based international order wherever it was threatened. This also includes the right to free navigation. Germany is ready to support all bilateral or multilateral confidence-building measures, said the SPD politician.
He mentioned the exchange of information and the observation of military exercises, inspections of military facilities and arms control agreements. “We need rule of law instead of rule by rule of thumb.”