Beijing [China], June 1: China has responded to US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue.
On June 1, the Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that Beijing had protested to Washington over the "defamatory" statements made by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue , according to Reuters.
A day earlier, at the annual security forum in Singapore, US Defense Secretary Hegseth delivered a speech emphasizing Washington's commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, while strongly criticizing China .
Mr. Hegseth accused Beijing of preparing to use military force to change the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific. He also affirmed that the Chinese military is building its capacity to reunify with Taiwan by force, so Beijing is training its military for "situations" in the Taiwan Strait. Thereby, the owner of the Pentagon affirmed that the Indo-Pacific is "America's priority battlefield" in the coming time.
In a statement on June 1, China objected to Mr. Hegseth calling the country a threat in the Indo-Pacific, describing the minister's remarks as "reprehensible" and "intended to cause division."
"Mr. Hegseth deliberately ignored the calls for peace and development from countries in the region and instead preached a Cold War mindset to confront the bloc, slandering China with smears and false accusations calling China a threat," the Chinese Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Beijing accused Washington of "deploying offensive weapons in the East Sea" - referring to the Typhon missile launchers that the US had placed in the Philippines - and creating tension in the Asia-Pacific, "turning the region into a powder keg".
In addition, the Chinese Foreign Ministry warned that the US was "playing with fire" on the Taiwan issue.
Earlier, also at the Shangri-La Dialogue on May 31, Rear Admiral Hu Gangfeng, Vice President of China's National Defense University, said that Minister Hegseth had made baseless accusations against China. Mr. Hu also accused the US of destabilizing the Asia-Pacific region after Mr. Hegseth called for establishing collective deterrence to deal with China, according to the South China Morning Post .
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
