The People’s Liberation Army will have no choice but to protect Taiwan at all costs should the US or any other outside force dare to split the island from the mainland, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told delegates of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit, a day after his American counterpart tried to muster an international coalition against China’s growing might in the Indo-Pacific.
“No attempts to split China will succeed,” the defense chief said. “Any interference in the Taiwan question is doomed to failure.”
China must be and will be reunited
Stressing that China will not yield a “single inch” of its “sacred land,” the minister said the PLA serves “entirely for self-defense” and will only strike back if attacked.
Some countries from outside the region come to the South China Sea to flex muscles in the name of freedom of navigation.
While the threat of a wider conflict indeed hangs over the Pacific, Wei stressed that China and Washington are fully aware that war would spell “disaster” for both. Beijing is firmly committed to regional peace and stability and will never pursue expansionist policies, he said.