STATE Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe yesterday delivered a speech on China’s vision of regional order at the 19th Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

Wei said the world is facing multiple crises rarely seen in history, and the way forward is to uphold and practice multilateralism and build a community with a shared future for mankind.

“China’s development is unstoppable,” Wei said, adding that China is rock-solid in its commitment to pursuing peaceful development.

China steadfastly pursues a defense policy that is defensive in nature, he said.

Wei urged countries to strive for the bright prospect of building an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future that enjoys durable peace and provides security for all.

On the Taiwan question, Wei said Taiwan is part of China, and the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair. “China will definitely realize its reunification.”

Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Zhang Zhenzhong, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, said that China strongly objected to remarks made by U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Saturday.

Austin’s accusation that China’s “unprofessional and frequent interceptions” of other countries’ airplanes in the air space of the South China Sea does not accord with the fact, said Zhang.

“We have to point out that the place or the air space where this event happened were in the air space near China’s Xisha and Nansha Islands, not the air space of American allies. And China has to take necessary countermeasures to safeguard its sovereignty and security interests. The countermeasures we have taken are conducted in a professional and safe way,” Zhang said.

Zhang said that the title of militarization of the South China Sea is more suited for the United States as it frequently sends warships and planes to intrude into the adjacent waters and air space of China’s islands and reefs in the South China Sea.

(Xinhua)