SINGAPORE – China’s defense minister said the country was developing its nuclear arsenal – a move he felt was appropriate given the state of international security – and warned Beijing will fight to block Taiwan independence.
General Wei Fenghe’s remarks at a conference in Singapore on Sunday followed China’s previously stated official lines. But the timing of the response was a direct setback for Washington, which is trying to increase its own influence in Asia.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Saturday China is becoming more aggressive with territorial claims and its military is adopting increasingly provocative behavior, including near Taiwan, where Chinese warplanes have been probing the island’s air defenses.
Gen. Wei responded on Sunday, saying it is US strategy in the Asia-Pacific region that is driving the two sides to confront. Regarding Taiwan, he issued a defiant message that has often been voiced by Beijing. “No one should ever underestimate the determination and ability of the Chinese military to uphold its territorial integrity,” he said.
General Wei and Mr. Austin had their first face-to-face meeting last week ahead of the Shangri-La Dialogue, a meeting of senior military officers and defense officials that has often provided an opportunity for contacts between American and Chinese sides.
Chinese Dongfeng-41 ICBMs at a parade in 2019.
Photo: Xu Yu/Zuma Press
This year’s discussions came amid heightened tensions over Taiwan and a war in Europe, both of which have highlighted military divisions between the US and China. They followed statements by President Biden during a visit to Tokyo in May that he said the US would respond militarily to any Chinese attempt to take Taiwan by force.
The Mainland Affairs Council, Taiwan’s top Chinese political body, denounced Mr Wei’s remarks in Singapore as an attempt at intimidation, saying in a written statement that the speech “further proves that Beijing is the source of major unrest in the region.”
In Gen. Wei’s speech on Sunday, he said US moves in the region — including its alliance with Australia, Japan and India, known informally as the Quad — could provoke conflict by encouraging Asian countries to target China gain weight. He also addressed Beijing’s stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine – another point of tension with the US – by repeating previous assurances that China would not supply Russia with arms.
General Wei also spoke about China’s nuclear arsenal, saying it is for defense purposes only, and reiterated Beijing’s pledge never to strike with such weapons first.
“China is developing nuclear capabilities at a moderate and reasonable level,” Gen Wei said. “That means we can protect the security of our nation so we can avoid the catastrophe of war, especially the catastrophe of nuclear war.”
While General Wei did not characterize the extent of the nuclear arsenal expansion when responding to a question about the weapons after his formal address, this was a rare public comment from a senior Chinese military official about a program the US says is growing and should be the subject of arms control talks.
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Gen. Wei, who previously commanded China’s missile force, said the country’s military modernization has included the use of all the new weapons displayed at a 2019 military parade in Beijing. The parade featured the Dongfeng-41 intercontinental ballistic missile, which can carry multiple nuclear warheads and has the range to hit the continental United States
General Wei stopped short of linking the nuclear weapons issue to Beijing’s stance on Taiwan, but reiterated China’s long-held positions that it intends to control the self-governing island and will vigorously resist efforts to assert its independence from China promote mainland.
Beijing’s nuclear weapons program has lagged far behind those of the US and Russia for decades. According to US intelligence estimates, China has begun rapidly expanding its nuclear arsenal in recent years. People familiar with the Chinese leadership’s mindset say the build-up is being driven by a perception that the US may be more willing to challenge them militarily, including in a possible conflict over Taiwan.
China has refused to provide clarity on its nuclear program and has dismissed US efforts to start arms control talks. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida criticized Beijing’s nuclear secrecy at Friday’s conference and said it should start talks with Washington.
The Pentagon projects that China could have about 1,000 nuclear warheads by the end of this decade, compared to a few hundred now. The US and Russia each have around 4,000 nuclear warheads.
Beijing has also developed and deployed more missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads. Satellite images suggest construction of more than 100 suspected missile silos in China’s remote western region that could house Dongfeng-41 missiles accelerated this year.
China is building missile launch sites in deserts and adding an aircraft carrier to its naval fleet. The WSJ spoke to military experts and analyzed satellite imagery to reveal Beijing’s quest to become a global military power to rival the US and its allies. Photos: Maxar; Planet Labs PBC
At the Singapore conference, General Wei did not answer a question about the suspected silos, but he reiterated Beijing’s stance that it would not trigger a nuclear conflict. Some US officials and analysts question these assurances.
Tensions between Washington and Beijing over the Taiwan issue flared in May when Biden said the American military would respond militarily to defend Taiwan if China invaded, the third time he has made such a statement. The US government has long maintained a policy of not saying whether its military would help defend Taiwan from attack while selling arms to the island to defend itself. Mr. Biden later said the US position was unchanged.
An increase in Chinese military flights near Taiwan this year has raised concern among Taiwanese and American government officials about Beijing’s intentions. China has also held military drills simulating an amphibious assault, which military experts say would likely be part of an invasion. China says the self-governing island is part of its territory and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control.
At a meeting on Friday dominated by the Taiwan issue, Mr Austin told General Wei that US policy towards the island has not changed, according to the US side. China’s defense minister said Beijing’s military will fight to prevent the island from any move towards independence, according to a spokesman, but both sides reported on the meeting suggesting a cooling of friction, and each side stressed the need to maintain open lines of communication to resolve the crisis.
write to Keith Zhai at [email protected] and Alastair Gale at [email protected]
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