"Comparing the Taiwan question with the Ukraine issue is unacceptable," China's embassy in Singapore said on social media, a day after Macron warned Asian defence officials in Singapore not to view Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a far-away problem.
"If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order, how would you phrase what could happen in Taiwan?" Macron told the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier annual security forum.
"What would you do the day something happens in the Philippines?"
China's embassy fired back that the "Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair. There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory."
While Taiwan considers itself a sovereign nation, China has said it will not rule out using force to bring it under its control.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth warned Saturday at the same forum in Singapore that China was "credibly preparing" to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia, adding the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and "rehearsing for the real deal".
China says US 'should not play with fire' on Taiwan, slams Hegseth
Beijing (AFP) May 31, 2025 -
China on Sunday warned the United States it "should not play with fire" over Taiwan and said it had lodged "representations" with Washington over comments made by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth at a summit in Singapore.
The US secretary of defence used his speech at an annual security forum on Saturday to warn that China was "credibly preparing" to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia.
He added that the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and "rehearsing for the real deal".
In a statement released just after midnight, China's foreign ministry said it had "lodged solemn representations with the US side" over Hegseth's comments, adding that it "strongly deplores" his remarks.
"The US should not try to use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to contain China and should not play with fire," it said.
Beijing, which did not send its defence minister Dong Jun to the Singapore summit, called the "Taiwan issue" China's "internal affair" and said foreign countries had no right to interfere.
China considers the self-ruled democratic island as its territory and has not ruled out using force to take control of it.
Hegseth also accused Beijing of "illegally seizing and militarising lands" in the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.
The foreign ministry on Sunday claimed there had "never been any issue" with navigation in the waterway.
China "is committed to safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in accordance with the law", a ministry spokesperson said.
Beijing also accused the United States of turning the Indo-Pacific region into a "powder keg" by deploying weapons in the South China Sea.
Hegseth: Prepare for war to ensure Indo-Pacific peace
Washington DC (UPI) May 31, 2025 -
The United States and its allies won't allow China to dominate the Indo-Pacific region, but do not seek war, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Saturday morning in Singapore.
He addressed regional concerns while speaking during the International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue event in Singapore.
Hegseth said the Indo-Pacific region is the United States' "priority theater" and won't allow China to push the United States and its allies out of the region, the Department of Defense announced Friday in a news release.
Instead, deterrence will be the primary tool by which the United States and its allies will counter any aggressive moves made by China, particularly in the South China Sea and against Taiwan.
"As our allies share the burden, we can increase our focus on the Indo-Pacific," Hegseth said, adding that the region is the nation's "priority theater."
He said the futures of the United States and its allies in the Indo-Pacific depend on each other.
"We share a vision of peace and stability, of prosperity and security," Hegseth said, "and we are here to stay."
Common sense and national interests with guide policy making in the region, while respecting mutual self-interests.
President Donald Trump is working to get European nations to do more to increase their respective national security interests instead of largely relying on the United States.
As European nations do more to protect themselves, Hegseth said the United States will be better able to focus on matters in the Indo-Pacific region and do more to thwart Chinese aggression.
"This enables all of us to benefit from the peace and stability that comes with a lasting and strong American presence here in the Indo-Pacific," Hegseth said.
That presence won't come at a cost for the nation's allies, though.
"We are not here to pressure other countries to embrace and adopt our politics or ideology," Hegseth told the audience. "We are all sovereign nations."
He said the United States does not "seek conflict with communist China."
But the United States "will not be pushed out of this critical region," Hegseth added. "And we will not let our allies and partners be subordinated and intimidated."
He said China's leaders are "preparing to use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific," including occupying Taiwan.
Any move by China to take over Taiwan, which China has claimed as part of its sovereign state, would trigger "devastating consequences" for the region and the world, Hegseth told the audience.
"The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent," he said, adding that the United States and its allies must be prepared with "urgency and vigilance."
If deterrence doesn't work and a fighting war is inevitable, "we are prepared to do what the Department of Defense does best: to fight and win decisively," Hegseth said.
The best way to ensure peace is to prepare for war, "but we have to do this quickly," he said. "We have no time to waste."
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