SINGAPORE (AP) \u2014 China\u2019s defense minister accused the United States on Sunday of trying to \u201chijack\u201d the support of countries in the Asia-Pacific region to turn them against Beijing, saying Washington is seeking to advance its own interests \u201cunder the guise of multilateralism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe lashed out at U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, rejecting his \u201csmearing accusation\u201d the day before at the Shangri-La Dialogue that\u00a0China was causing instability\u00a0with its claim to the self-governing island of Taiwan and its increased\u00a0military activity\u00a0in the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austin had stressed the need for multilateral partnerships with nations in the Indo-Pacific, which Wei suggested was an attempt to back China into a corner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo country should impose its will on others or bully others under the guise of multilateralism,\u201d he said. \u201c\u00a0The strategy\u00a0is an attempt to build an exclusive small group in the name of a free and open Indo-Pacific to hijack countries in our region and target one specific country \u2014 it is a strategy to create conflict and confrontation to contain and encircle others.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China has been rapidly modernizing its military and seeking to expand its influence and ambitions in the region, recently signing a security agreement with the\u00a0Solomon Islands\u00a0that many fear could lead to a Chinese naval base in the Pacific, and breaking ground this past week on a\u00a0naval port expansion\u00a0project in Cambodia that could give Beijing a foothold in the Gulf of Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year U.S. officials accused China of testing a\u00a0hypersonic missile, a weapon harder for missile defense systems to counter, but China insisted it had been a \u201croutine test of a spacecraft.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Answering a question about the test on Sunday, Wei came the closest so far to acknowledging it was, indeed, a hypersonic missile, saying, \u201cAs for hypersonic weapons, many countries are developing weapons and I think there\u2019s no surprise that China is doing so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChina will develop its military,\u201d he added. \u201cI think it\u2019s natural.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month said China represented the\u00a0\u201cmost serious long-term challenge to the international order\u201d\u00a0for the United States, with its claims to Taiwan and efforts to dominate the strategic South China Sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. and its allies have responded with so-called freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, sometimes encountering a pushback from China\u2019s military.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wei accused the U.S. of \u201cmeddling in the affairs of our region\u201d with the patrols, and \u201cflexing the muscles by sending warships and warplanes on a rampage in the South China Sea.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China has squared off with the Philippines and Vietnam, among others, over maritime claims and Wei said it was up to the countries in the region to find their own solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChina calls for turning the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the shared wish and responsibility of countries in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taiwan and China split during a civil war in 1949, but China claims the island as its own territory, and has not ruled out the use of military force to take it, while maintaining it is a domestic political issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Washington follows a\u00a0\u201cone-China\u201d policy, which recognizes Beijing but allows informal relations and defense ties with Taipei. It provides arms to Taiwan and follows a\u00a0\u201cstrategic ambiguity\u201d approach\u00a0about how far it would be willing to go to defend Taiwan in the face of a Chinese invasion. At the same time, it does not support Taiwanese independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Joe Biden raised eyebrows and China\u2019s pique last month\u00a0saying that the U.S. would intervene militarily\u00a0if Taiwan were attacked, though the White House later said the comments did not reflect a policy shift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Austin on Saturday accused China of threatening to change the status quo on Taiwan with a \u201csteady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity\u201d near the island.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wei fired back Sunday that the U.S. was not adhering to its \u201cone-China\u201d policy, saying \u201cit keeps playing the Taiwan card against China.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said China\u2019s \u201cgreatest wish\u201d was \u201cpeaceful reunification\u201d with Taiwan, but also made clear Beijing was willing to do whatever it took to realize its goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChina will definitely realize its reunification,\u201d he said. \u201cChina\u2019s reunification is a great cause of the Chinese nation, and it is a historical trend that no one and no force can stop.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He added that China would \u201cresolutely crush any attempt to pursue Taiwan independence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe will not hesitate to fight, we will fight at all costs and we will fight to the very end,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is the only choice for China.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wei and Austin met one-on-one on Saturday, and Taiwan featured prominently in their discussions, according to the U.S.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sunday, Wei met with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, which the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported was the first high-level meeting between the two countries in more than two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Marles said it had been three years since Chinese and Australian defense ministers had met, and called the meeting a \u201ccritical first step.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs Sec. Austin observed after his own meeting with Defense Minister Wei, it is really important in these times to have open lines of dialogue,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAustralia and China\u2019s relationship is complex and it\u2019s precisely because of this complexity that it is really important that we are engaging in dialogue right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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