Chinese State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe spoke at the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 12, sharing China’s vision for regional order and clarifying Beijing’s position on various issues. One important sound bite from that speech was a stern warning to countries that might support “Taiwan independence,” which was immediately interpreted by the Western media as somehow provocative.
“If anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight, we will fight at all costs,” Wei said, emphasizing that China’s military capabilities and resolve should not be underestimated. In that same speech, Wei, much to the astonishment of the Western media, referred to the Taiwan region as “first and foremost China’s Taiwan.”
While it’s true that these words were pretty grave, they are not at all provocative. Wei was merely stating a defensive position, namely that if China’s sovereignty were threatened by so-called “Taiwan independence,” then China’s military would retaliate in kind to defend its territorial integrity. This implies that China’s position is dependent on changing circumstances on the Taiwan issues, but is not itself bent on upsetting the status quo.
One would think quite the opposite if their knowledge of this issue were informed entirely by the Western media. For them, it’s China that is shaking things up by threatening to use force over the issue of Taiwan. However, this ignores the status quo that Western governments accepted when establishing diplomatic relations with China: The One China principle, which states clearly that there is one China and that Taiwan is part of China.