China Won’t Be Bullied By US, Says Defence Minister

Singapore: China’s Defence Minister has issued a stern rebuke to the United States amid the ongoing trade war and tension over the South China Sea and Taiwan, saying his country would “not let others prey on or divide us.” General Wei Fenghe told delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday that Beijing would not yield an inch of territory — and any foreign interference was doomed to failure. He specifically called out the US and its Taiwan Relations Act, the 1979 law which permits Washington to provide defence weapons to the Taipei government and help defend the island from invasion.

China considers Taiwan a renegade province. The two separated at the end of a bloody civil war in 1949 and the US only has official diplomatic relations with Beijing. “How can the US enact a law to interfere in China’s internal affairs? Is there any sense in that?” Wei asked. Wei said China was just taking measures to ensure prosperity and a better life for all involved, CNN reported. “China has never provoked a war or conflict, taken land or invaded another country,” said Wei, the highest-ranking Chinese official to attend Asia’s top defence summit in eight years. “China has never preyed on others. We shall not let others prey on or divide us either.” Beijing claims almost the entire 1.3 million square mile South China Sea as its sovereign territory and aggressively asserts its stake. US military officials, meanwhile, have vowed to continue enforcing a free and open Indo-Pacific. Wei portrayed the South China Sea situation as largely a stand-off between Washington and Beijing. Wei defended China’s detention of hundreds of thousands of Uyghurs in Xinjiang province for economic and security reasons. Wei also blamed Washington for the ongoing trade war. (IANS)

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