China’s Dong Jun warns Taiwan separatist forces face ‘self-destruction’

SINGAPORE — China’s defense minister, Adm. Dong Jun, vowed that anyone who aims to separate Taiwan from China will face “self-destruction.”

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, the admiral called on “forces for Taiwan independence” to “abandon the illusion and return to the right track of reunification.”

“Anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will only end up in self-destruction,” he said.

In response to questions, Dong reiterated China’s position that Taiwan is part of China and said Beijing is committed to peaceful reunification.

Taiwan is a democratically self-governed island and recently inaugurated a new president on May 20.

Throughout his speech and Q&A, Dong repeatedly blamed separatist forces for eroding the “One China” principle, which states Beijing’s view that it has sovereignty over Taiwan. The admiral said newly elected Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te made a “blatant” statement about his ambition for Taiwanese independence in his inauguration speech.

He also accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of trying to change the island’s constitution to “erase the Chinese identity,” preventing people-to-people exchanges between Taiwan and mainland China as well as increasing its military capability to push for independence.

For decades, Taiwan has bought U.S. military hardware, with recent purchases including advanced M1A2 Abrams tanks, modernized F-16 fighters and long-range artillery systems.

The Chinese defense minister also took aim at unnamed “outside forces,” claiming they support Taiwan separatists.

“We know some big power keeps hollowing out the ‘One China’ principle, distorted facts and even misinterpret U.N. General Assembly resolutions,” Dong said.

Without identifying any specific country, Dong also alleged the big power “violated their commitment to China when we established diplomatic relations.”

“They keep testing China’s red lines, such as official engagement and arms sales to Taiwan,” he said.

“These kinds of behavior sends very wrong signals to the Taiwan independence forces and make them become very aggressive. I think its it’s clear what is the foreign power’s purpose: they try to contain China using Taiwan.”

The U.S. does not have a mutual defense treaty with Taiwan and is not obligated to defend the island. But the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act — established after the U.S. switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing — states the U.S. “will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services” as may be necessary to “enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.”

Although Dong had already dedicated a portion of his speech to addressing China’s concerns about Taiwan, he continued to expound on those issues in his first response during the Q&A. When reminded by the plenary’s chair, Bastian Giegerich from the…