Singapore: China’s defence chief has accused Australia of meddling in others’ affairs in the South China Sea while claiming the United States and its allies were trying to hijack the Indo-Pacific region and target Beijing with exclusive blocs such as the Quad and AUKUS.
In an hour-long appearance at the Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit in Singapore on Sunday, China State Councillor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe also declared that the People’s Liberation Army would not hesitate to “fight to the end” if pushed into a confrontation or if Taiwan sought to secede from the mainland.
General Wei Fenghe addresses the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in SIngapore on Sunday.Credit:AP
Wei’s comments followed speeches at the summit on Saturday by US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, who both hit out at China’s intimidatory tactics in the South China Sea.
Austin had cited the dangerous intercept by the PLA late last month of an Australian surveillance plane near the contested Paracel Islands as an incident that “should worry us all”.
China warned Australia after the mid-air run-in to “act prudently” or face “serious consequences” for what it deemed threats to its sovereignty in the disputed waterway.
Asked on Sunday about Beijing’s message for Australia, Wei did not detail what was meant by serious consequences but replied: “The question is right now there are countries, non-regional countries, meddling with issues in the South China Sea, stirring up trouble. The South China Sea issue should be resolved by countries in the region.”
In a swipe at the formation of blocs such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue and AUKUS – both of which Australia is a member of, as is the US – Wei said “no country should impose its will on others or bully others under the guise of multilateralism”.
He said the building of “parallel systems” could only split the world.
“We noticed Secretary Austin’s remarks on the US Indo-Pacific strategy. To us, 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,” he said. “It is a strategy to create conflict and confrontation to contain and encircle others.”
He added: “China will not be the bully. We are all clear-eyed who is the bully. China does not seek hegemony.”
Loading
Marles had earlier said in an interview on Sky News that the resumption of formal dialogue with China was a possibility after he shook hands with Wei in Singapore.
Australian governments have expressed anxiety over the past six weeks in particular at the expansion of China’s influence in the South Pacific, most notably with the shock establishment of a security pact between Beijing and the Solomon Islands.
But Wei maintained China’s development and activities aboard was not a threat to other nations, saying Xi Jinping’s regime was committed to creating “a new type of international relations based on mutual respect, fairness and justice and cooperation”.
“We will not provoke troubles but we will not flinch in the face of provocation,” he said. “Our doctrine is that we will not attack until we are attacked. If anyone dares to attack us the PLA will not hesitate to fight back and defeat the aggressor.”
The same course of action would be taken, he reiterated, should an attempt be made to secure independence for Taiwan.
China intends to reclaim the island, which it regards as one of its provinces, by 2049, and Wei told delegates in Singapore that “peaceful reunification is the greatest wish of the Chinese people”.
“We will resolutely crush any attempt to pursue Taiwan independence,” Wei said. “If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight. We will fight at all costs and we will fight to the very end. This is the only choice for China.”
The Taiwan question has lingered large in China-US relations in the past month in particular after US President Joe Biden proclaimed during a visit to Japan for a Quad meeting that Washington would defend the island from any attack from the PLA.
But Austin has since walked back that stance and on Saturday restated that the American position on Taiwan – that it supports retention of the status quo – had not changed.
Loading
Wei described ties between the two superpowers as being “at a critical and crucial juncture”, calling on “the US side to stop smearing and containing China, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop harming China’s interests”.
“China believes that a stable China-US relationship serves the interests of both countries and of the rest of the world,” he said.
“Confrontation will benefit neither our two countries. It would be an historic and strategic mistake to insist on taking China as threat, an adversary and even an enemy.”
In his speech in Singapore, Wei also refused to denounce Russia for Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine, sticking to the line China has taken since the invasion in February.
“Conflict or war is the last thing China wants to see [but] we do not believe that maximum pressure and sanctions can solve the problem. If anything they can exacerbate issues,” he said.
“China supports talks between Russia and Ukraine. We also hope the US and NATO will have talks with Russia to create conditions for an early ceasefire.”
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.