China's defense chief says Beijing ready to stop Taiwan independence 'by force'

Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun warned on Sunday that his military was prepared to prevent Taiwan’s independence “by force”, but called for more exchanges with the United States.

The remarks, delivered at an annual security forum in Singapore, followed the first substantive face-to-face talks in 18 months between the two countries’ defense chiefs.

“We have always been open to exchanges and cooperation, but this requires the two sides to meet each other halfway,” Dong said at the Shangri-La Dialogue where he met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday .

“We believe we need more exchanges precisely because there are differences between our two militaries.”

Dong and Austin met for more than an hour at the luxury hotel hosting the forum, which is attended by defense officials from around the world and which in recent years has been seen as a barometer of interstate relations -United States and China.

After the meeting, Austin said telephone conversations between US and Chinese military commanders would resume “in the coming months”, while Beijing praised the “stabilization” of security relations between the two countries.

This year’s Shangri-La Dialogue comes a week after China held military exercises around self-ruled Taiwan and warned of a US-backed war on the island following the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has described as a “dangerous separatist”.

“The Chinese People’s Liberation Army has always been an indestructible and powerful force in defending the unification of the motherland, and it will act with determination and force at all times to curb Taiwan’s independence and ensure that “She never succeeds in her attempts,” Dong told the forum on Sunday.

“Anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will be crushed and face their own destruction.”

Regarding the South China Sea, which China claims almost entirely and where it has been involved in clashes with Philippine ships, Dong warned of “limits” to Beijing’s restraint.

“China has shown sufficient restraint in the face of rights violations and provocations, but there are limits to this,” Dong said.

– Hotspot conflicts –

President Joe Biden’s administration and China have stepped up communications to ease friction between the nuclear-armed rivals, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken visiting Beijing and Shanghai last month.

One of the priorities has been the resumption of dialogue between military personnel, considered essential to prevent conflicts from spiraling out of control.

China ended military communications with the United States in 2022 in response to the visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, then Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Tensions between Washington and Beijing were also stoked by issues including an alleged Chinese spy balloon allegedly shot down over US airspace, a meeting between then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen , and Pelosi’s successor, Kevin McCarthy, and US military aid to Taipei.

China is also angered by the United States’ strengthening defense ties in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly with the Philippines, and the regular deployment of warships and fighter jets in the Taiwan Strait and at sea from southern China.

Beijing sees this as part of a decades-long U.S. effort to contain it.

The two sides agreed after a summit between Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Biden last November to resume high-level military talks, including on military operations near Taiwan, Japan and in the South China Sea.

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