Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun warned on Sunday that Taiwanese “separatists” will be “crushed and bring about their own downfall,” adding that “those separatists recently made fanatical statements that show their betrayal of the Chinese nation and their ancestors. They will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.”
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which is in charge of the country’s policy toward China, reiterated that the People’s Republic of China has never ruled the island.
The outburst by the defense minister came a day after the Shangri-La Dialogue forum in Singapore, Asia’s biggest security conference, where US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told delegates the Indo-Pacific region remained a key focus for the United States, even as it grappled with security assistance for Ukraine and the war in Gaza.
Also in attendance this year at Shangri-La was Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, who said that China is working to undermine an upcoming conference in Switzerland in which over a hundred nations with gather, half from Europe and half from the rest of the world, to discuss Ukraine’s terms for peace with Russia, food security, nuclear safety and the release of all prisoners and deportees.
Unlike last year at Shangri-La, where Chinese and Ukrainian defense ministers met for bilateral talks, there were no official contacts between Ukraine and the Chinese delegation, who made an effort to avoid even an accidental encounter with the Ukrainian team, telling their Singaporean hosts that they wouldn’t attend a dinner for delegates on Saturday if Zelensky was there.
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Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun warned on Sunday that Taiwanese “separatists” will be “crushed and bring about their own downfall,” adding that “those separatists recently made fanatical statements that show their betrayal of the Chinese nation and their ancestors. They will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.”
Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which is in charge of the country’s policy toward China, reiterated that the People’s Republic of China has never ruled the island.
The outburst by the defense minister came a day after the Shangri-La Dialogue forum in Singapore, Asia’s biggest security conference, where US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told delegates the Indo-Pacific region remained a key focus for the United States, even as it grappled with security assistance for Ukraine and the war in Gaza.
“Every year for three years, a new Chinese defense minister has come to Shangri-La,” [a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity said](https://www.reuters.com/world/ukraines-zelenskiy-dominates-asia-security-conference-china-taiwan-trade-barbs-2024-06-02/). “And every year, they’ve given a speech at complete odds with the reality of the PLA’s coercive activity across the region. This year was no different.”
Also in attendance this year at Shangri-La was Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky, who said that China is working to undermine an upcoming conference in Switzerland in which over a hundred nations with gather, half from Europe and half from the rest of the world, to discuss Ukraine’s terms for peace with Russia, food security, nuclear safety and the release of all prisoners and deportees.
Unlike last year at Shangri-La, where Chinese and Ukrainian defense ministers met for bilateral talks, there were no official contacts between Ukraine and the Chinese delegation, who made an effort to avoid even an accidental encounter with the Ukrainian team, telling their Singaporean hosts that they wouldn’t attend a dinner for delegates on Saturday if Zelensky was there.