China would “crush” any foreign incursion into its sovereign territory including in the South China Sea, a senior Beijing military official said yesterday on the sidelines of a defense forum.
Washington and Beijing have verbally sparred over China’s increasingly assertive approach in disputed maritime regions, including the South China Sea.
In recent months, Chinese vessels have engaged in a series of high-profile confrontations with Philippine ships in the waters, which Beijing claims almost in their entirety despite an international court ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.
Photo: AP
Speaking to a small group of journalists at the Xiangshan forum in Beijing, Chinese army Lieutenant General He Lei (何雷) said: “We hope that the South China Sea will remain a sea of peace, [but] if the US moves its pawns behind the scenes, if it pushes countries to the front line, or if the US itself ends up on the front line, then we in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army [PLA]... will never have any patience.”
“We... will resolutely crush any foreign hostile encroachment on China’s territorial, sovereign and maritime rights and interests with firm determination, staunch will, strong capability and effective means,” He said.
On Wednesday, China and the Philippines held what they called “candid” talks on South China Sea issues, in particular over a disputed reef that has become a hotspot for recent bilateral clashes.
“Both sides agreed to continue discussions on areas of cooperation, especially on hotline mechanisms, coast guard cooperation, and marine scientific and technological cooperation,” a readout from the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said.
He said a resolution in US-China tensions over the issue “depends on the US.”
He also confirmed that US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Michael Chase would attend this week’s Xiangshan forum.
“I hope that during his visit, during his meetings here, Michael Chase will listen more to the voices of China and the Chinese military,” he said.
“The message we are sending to the US is that we want the two countries and armies to be partners, to be friends, we want to pursue China-US relations featuring win-win cooperation,” he said.
“We want the US to make more contributions to regional and world peace, security and stability,” he added.
Scores of delegates were in the Chinese capital yesterday for the Xiangshan forum, dubbed China’s answer to Singapore’s annual Shangri-La meeting.
It is set to host more than 500 representatives from more than 90 countries and international organizations, organizers have said.
Official speeches are expected today, when the forum’s opening ceremony is to take place and top military representatives from Russia, Pakistan, Singapore, Iran, Germany and others are to participate in roundtable discussions.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS