Chinese fighter jets take part in an exercise near Taiwan in April. © Mei Shaoquan/Imago
China's defense minister continues to fuel the Taiwan conflict with a "rare" threat – and threatens the island state with violence.
Munich/Singapore – The Shangri-La Dialogue, which began this Friday in Singapore, is supposed to address the question of how peace and security can be sustainably maintained in Asia. Shortly before the start of the conference, however, China's new defense minister, General Li Shangfu, drew attention to himself with not at all peaceful tones. Referring to Taiwan, Li said on Thursday, "We will never promise to refrain from the use of force."
According to Chinese state media, Li also emphasized in talks with his counterpart from Singapore, Ng Eng Hen, that his country was seeking a peaceful solution to the Taiwan issue; However, Beijing will not allow the ruling Progressive Party in Taipei to seek independence. "China must be united," Li said. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province, although the democratically governed island nation has never been under the control of the People's Republic.
Similar to Li, Chinese leaders regularly speak out. Last October, for example, Xi Jinping declared, "We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity and effort, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force, and we reserve the right to take all necessary measures."
China's Taiwan threat is also directed against the U.S.
For former Taiwanese Defense Minister Andrew Yang Nien-dzu, however, Li's statement has a new quality: Such a clear warning to Taiwan's ruling party is "rare," the South China Morning Post quoted the politician as saying.
Taiwan will elect a successor next January to outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen, who is not allowed to run again after two terms. "China will try to influence the election through disinformation campaigns and other manipulations," said Asia expert May-Britt Stumbaum of the University of the Federal Armed Forces in Munich in a recent interview with the Münchner Merkur. Beijing's goal is to prevent Tsai's party colleague William Lai from becoming the new president, as he is "even more vehemently in favor of independence from China" than the current incumbent. Rather, Beijing is hoping for a victory for the candidate of the more pro-Beijing Kuomintang, Hou Yu-ih.
In addition to Taiwan's ruling party and the Taiwanese voters, the countries of the West are also likely to be the addressees of Li Shangfu's threats from Singapore – above all the USA. The government in Washington, which has only unofficial relations with Taiwan, has recently stepped up its support for the threatened island nation. A few weeks ago, for example, the Pentagon approved arms deliveries worth the equivalent of around 582 million euros to Taiwan; the two countries also signed a new trade agreement earlier this week. In 1979, the U.S. pledged to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons. At the same time, Washington had severed diplomatic ties with the country and instead recognized the government in Beijing.
China canceled meeting with US Secretary of Defense
Relations between China and the US are currently at a low point. A meeting between the defense ministers of the two countries planned for this weekend in Singapore had collapsed China a few days ago. The Foreign Ministry in Beijing indirectly cited the sanctions imposed by the United States on Li in 2018 as the reason. At the time, the current Secretary of Defense had been targeted by the United States as head of the People's Liberation Army's weapons development department because of arms deals with Russia.
In Beijing, the Ministry of Defense said on Wednesday that "the responsibility for the current difficulties in the exchange between the two armies lies exclusively with the American side." The U.S. must "correct mistakes in order to create the necessary conditions and the right atmosphere for communication and exchanges between the two sides," said ministry spokesman Tan Kefei.
Incident over the South China Sea fuels conflict
Additional tensions were caused by an incident in the airspace over the South China Sea at the end of last week. A Chinese fighter jet came dangerously close to a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft, as it became known several days later. The U.S. spoke of an "unnecessarily aggressive" maneuver, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken subsequently called for better communication with China. Beijing, in turn, accused the United States that the use of the reconnaissance aircraft was a "provocation" and violated "the national sovereignty and security of China."
On the German side, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office, Tobias Lindner, will also take part in the Shangri-La meeting in Singapore. He wanted to "talk to many of our partners about how Germany, how Europe, can contribute to maintaining peace and security in the Indo-Pacific and reducing tensions," the Green politician said on Thursday. (sh)
