China accuses US of trying to 'hijack' support in Asia : NPR & More News Here

SINGAPORE — China’s protection minister accused the United States on Sunday of trying to “hijack” the support of nations in the Asia-Pacific area to flip them towards Beijing, saying Washington is searching for to advance its personal pursuits “under the guise of multilateralism.”

Defense Minister Gen. Wei Fenghe lashed out at U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, rejecting his “smearing accusation” the day earlier than on the Shangri-La Dialogue that China was inflicting instability with its declare to the self-governing island of Taiwan and its elevated navy exercise in the world.

Austin had harassed the necessity for multilateral partnerships with nations in the Indo-Pacific, which Wei urged was an try to again China right into a nook.

“No country should impose its will on others or bully others under the guise of multilateralism,” he mentioned. ” The strategy is 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 — it is a strategy to create conflict and confrontation to contain and encircle others.”

China has been quickly modernizing its navy and searching for to broaden its affect and ambitions in the area, lately signing a safety settlement with the Solomon Islands that many worry could lead on to a Chinese naval base in the Pacific, and breaking floor this previous week on a naval port growth mission in Cambodia that would give Beijing a foothold in the Gulf of Thailand.

Last yr U.S. officers accused China of testing a hypersonic missile, a weapon more durable for missile protection techniques to counter, however China insisted it had been a “routine test of a spacecraft.”

Answering a query concerning the take a look at on Sunday, Wei got here the closest to this point to acknowledging it was, certainly, a hypersonic missile, saying, “As for hypersonic weapons, many countries are developing weapons and I think there’s no surprise that China is doing so.”

“China will develop its military,” he added. “I think it’s natural.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken final month mentioned China represented the “most serious long-term challenge to the international order” for the United States, with its claims to Taiwan and efforts to dominate the strategic South China Sea.

The U.S. and its allies have responded with so-called freedom of navigation patrols in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait, typically encountering a pushback from China’s navy.

Wei accused the U.S. of “meddling in the affairs of our region” with the patrols, and “flexing the muscles by sending warships and warplanes on a rampage in the South China Sea.”

China has squared off with the Philippines and Vietnam, amongst others, over maritime claims and Wei mentioned it was up to the nations in the area to discover their very own options.

“China calls for turning the South China Sea into a sea of peace, friendship and cooperation,” he mentioned. “This is the shared wish and responsibility of countries in the region.”

Taiwan and China break up throughout a civil battle in 1949, however China claims the island as its personal territory, and has not dominated out the use of navy power to take it, whereas sustaining it’s a home political situation.

Washington follows a “one-China” coverage, which acknowledges Beijing however permits casual relations and protection ties with Taipei. It gives arms to Taiwan and follows a “strategic ambiguity” strategy about how far it might be prepared to go to defend Taiwan in the face of a Chinese invasion. At the identical time, it doesn’t support Taiwanese independence.

President Joe Biden raised eyebrows and China’s pique final month saying that the U.S. would intervene militarily if Taiwan have been attacked, although the White House later mentioned the feedback didn’t replicate a coverage shift.

Austin on Saturday accused China of threatening to change the established order on Taiwan with a “steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity” close to the island.

Wei fired again Sunday that the U.S. was not adhering to its “one-China” coverage, saying “it keeps playing the Taiwan card against China.”

He mentioned China’s “greatest wish” was “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan, but additionally made clear Beijing was prepared to do no matter it took to notice its targets.

“China will definitely realize its reunification,” he mentioned. “China’s reunification is a great cause of the Chinese nation, and it is a historical trend that no one and no force can stop.”

He added that China would “resolutely crush any attempt to pursue Taiwan independence.”

“We will not hesitate to fight, we will fight at all costs and we will fight to the very end,” he mentioned. “This is the only choice for China.”

Wei and Austin met one-on-one on Saturday, and Taiwan featured prominently in their discussions, in accordance to the U.S.

On Sunday, Wei met with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles, which the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported was the primary high-level assembly between the 2 nations in greater than two years.

Marles mentioned it had been three years since Chinese and Australian protection ministers had met, and referred to as the assembly a “critical first step.”

“As Sec. Austin observed after his own meeting with Defense Minister Wei, it is really important in these times to have open lines of dialogue,” he instructed reporters.

“Australia and China’s relationship is complex and it’s precisely because of this complexity that it is really important that we are engaging in dialogue right now.”

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