QINGDAO, China– One of China’s top military leaders took a tough stance on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval meeting in northeast China on Monday that the country would strike back with force if its interests were threatened.
The 19th biennial meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium opened in the port city of Qingdao, where China’s northern naval force is based, providing a vivid backdrop to China’s massive military expansion over the past two decades, which has led it to build or renovate three aircraft carriers. .
The four-day meeting has attracted representatives from partners and competitors, including Australia, Cambodia, Chile, France, India and the United States, and comes amid heightened tensions over China’s assertive actions in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China Seas, and as China’s navy has become the largest in the world by number of hulls.
Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission of the ruling Communist Party, which controls the armed forces, spoke of “common development” and said that “decoupling, friction and confrontation will only divide the world into isolated islands that protect each other.” others with suspicion. “
However, it then turned to China’s territorial claims, which have not been recognized by international law and in some cases have been denied. Beijing has ignored rulings that do not favor it, particularly in the South China Sea, where it is in dispute with five other parties over islands, waterways and underwater resources.
Japan continues to defend its control over the uninhabited Senkaku island chain, called Diaoyu by China, in the East China Sea, against incursions by the Chinese coast guard.
Last week, Taiwan strengthened its position in the disputed South China Sea by establishing satellite communications between the main island and its garrison on Taiping Island, also known as Itu Aba, the largest land feature in the hotly contested island chain. Spratly. China has created seven artificial islands in the area by piling sand and cement on coral reefs and then equipping them with landing strips and other military infrastructure.
Zhang said China’s territorial sovereignty “does not admit of any infringement and its fundamental interests cannot be questioned. We don’t cause trouble, but we will never back down from provocation. “The Chinese military will resolutely defend reunification and the interests of the motherland.”
Zhang has spoken in the past of Beijing’s determination to seize control of the autonomous island republic of Taiwan, which it claims as its own territory, using force if necessary. With its crucial high-tech economy, Taiwan has been strengthening its defenses on its own and with the help of the United States, where Congress this weekend approved $8 billion in military aid for Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.
Taiwan is also building its own submarines and training aircraft and awaiting delivery of upgraded versions of F-16 fighters, battle tanks and other hardware from the US.
Zhang appeared to insist on China’s unilateralist approach to foreign relations and military conflicts advocated by Xi Jinping, the top military commander, leader of the Communist Party and head of state for life, who has eliminated all dissenting opinions.
China “remains committed to resolving maritime disputes with countries directly involved through friendly consultations, but we will not allow our good faith to be abused,” Zhang said. “Particularly about the autonomous island republic of Taiwan, which Beijing threatens to use force to bring under its control. “We will take justified actions to defend our rights under the law.”
Zhang’s comments follow a major restructuring of the Chinese military in recent months that has seen the still-unexplained disappearance of former Defense Minister Li Shangfu and several senior missile corps officers.
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Bodeen reported from Taipei, Taiwan.