China Accuses Us Of Trying To Pirate Support In Asia

SINGAPORE (AP) – China’s defense minister accused the United States on Sunday of trying to “pirate” support for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to turn against Beijing, saying Washington was seeking to promote its under the pretext of multilateralism “.
“Secretary of Defense General Wei Fenghe criticized US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, dismissing his” accusation of slander “the day before in the Shangri-La Dialogue that China is causing instability by claiming self-rule on the island of Taiwan and destabilizing” in the area.
Austin had stressed the need for multilateral cooperation with nations in the Indo-Pacific, which Wei suggested was an attempt to push China into a corner.
“No country should impose its will on others or intimidate others under the pretext of a multilateral approach,” he said.  “The strategy is an attempt to create an exclusive small group in the name of a free and open Indo-Pacific to conquer countries in our region and target a specific country – it is a strategy to create conflict and confrontation to limit and encircle others. .  ”
China is rapidly modernizing its military and seeking to expand its influence and ambitions in the region, recently signing a security deal with the Solomon Islands that many fear could lead to a Chinese naval base in the Pacific, breaking ground. last week on a Cambodian naval port expansion project that could give Beijing a base in the Gulf of Thailand.
Last year, U.S. officials accused China of testing a supersonic missile, a weapon that is more difficult for missile defense systems to deal with, but China insisted it was a “routine test of a spacecraft.”
Answering a question about the test on Sunday, Wei came very close to acknowledging that it was indeed a supersonic missile, saying: “As far as supersonic weapons are concerned, many countries are developing weapons and I think it is not surprising that China he does it. “
“China will develop its military,” he added.  “I think it’s natural.”
An increase was reported by Bangkok.  Zen Soo in Hong Kong and Caroline Chen in Beijing contributed to this exhibition.