US Defence Chief Criticises China's 'Destabilising' Military Activity Near Taiwan After Beijing's 'War' Threat
US-China tensions have soared over Taiwan in recent months as Beijing views the self-ruled, democratic island as its territory and has vowed to seize it even by force if necessary.
New Delhi: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Saturday criticised China's "provocative, destabilising" military activity near Taiwan. This came a day after his Chinese counterpart warned him that Beijing will "not hesitate to start a war" if the island declares independence. Tensions have grown in a severe manner between the US and China over Taiwan amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. "We're seeing growing coercion from Beijing. We've witnessed a steady increase in provocative and destabilising military activity near Taiwan," Lloyd Austin told the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, as quoted by news agency AFP.
"That includes (Chinese military) aircraft flying near Taiwan in record numbers in recent months, and nearly on a daily basis," he pointed out.
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In their first face-to-face conversation on Friday on the sidelines of the summit, Austin and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe debated over the issue.
Wei warned Austin that "if anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost", according to Chinese officials, as quoted by AFP.
US-China tensions have soared over Taiwan in recent months as Beijing views the self-ruled, democratic island as its territory and has vowed to seize it even by force if necessary.
During his first trip to Asia as president in May, US President Joe Biden had said that the US would be willing to defend Taiwan if China tried to invade. Two days later, China conducted a military drill near Taiwan.
The US Defence Chief has repeatedly described China as the “pacing challenge” for the Defense Department while assuring that the Indo-Pacific region is the priority for the United States, even with Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine.
The already tense relationship between Washington and Beijing boiled over earlier this week when a US congressional delegation visited Taiwan.
Despite the fact that China and Taiwan have been governed separately for more than seven decades, Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China.
Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies, including the US, a move repeatedly opposed by Beijing.
Notably, China on Monday sent 30 warplanes into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone, the highest daily figure in four months.
(With Agency Inputs)
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