China aimed to be a “builder of world peace, a contributor to world development, a protector of the world order and a provider of public goods,” General Wei Fenghe told the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Sunday, using a key phrase invented by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Wei’s remarks came as defense and foreign policy officials and analysts at the forum confronted China over its threats against Taiwan, the aggressive interception of Western military aircraft in the South China Sea, and its ambitions to create of. As for Taiwan, Wei’s message was rigid but not more belligerent than usual. He said the country was “China’s Taiwan” and reiterated that Beijing saw the annexation of the island as a historic mission that “must be absolutely accomplished” and for which its military would be ready to fight. However, Wei said that peaceful unification remains “the greatest hope of the Chinese people and we continue to maintain the utmost sincerity and are willing to make the greatest effort” to achieve it. “Wei presented a fairly compressive position that I considered stable, but did not open any new ground. He repeated the statement [China’s president] Xi [Jinping] made to [Joe] “Biden said last November that China would do everything it could to pursue peaceful reunification,” said Bonnie Glazer, director of the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund. The relatively calm stance came as Beijing sought to avoid a further escalation of tensions with the US over Taiwan. On Friday, China praised the meeting between Wei and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, which was dominated by discussions on Taiwan as “honest, positive and constructive.” The next day, Austin criticized Beijing in a summit speech for “a steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan” and warned that the United States would maintain “our ability to resist any use of force” against of the country. Observers, however, said China’s mild messages refuted a stance that remained hard on the substance. A U.S. official said People’s Liberation Army (FSA) officials had told U.S. counterparts in recent months that the Taiwan Straits were not international waters. “It sounds like a new position and it has a functional impact,” Glaser said. While Beijing has in the past complained mainly about US support for Taiwan, Wei also objected that “other countries” were interfering in China’s affairs on the island. “He made a covert statement acknowledging that they are watching what other countries are doing to support Taiwan,” said Meia Nouwens, a Chinese military expert at IISS, the think-tank and conference organizer. Wei also advocated the rapid modernization and expansion of the PLA.

He said it was natural for China to develop new weapons when asked by the Financial Times about an extremely advanced Chinese supersonic weapons test in July 2021 that shocked the Pentagon. “Many countries are testing weapons. “There is no surprise that China is doing this,” Wei said. “These weapons are for the protection of China’s national interests. . . “It’s natural to have new weapons.” The FT reported last year that the PLA had tested a nuclear-capable supersonic weapon that flew around the world and launched a rocket as it flew over the South China Sea. The Chinese Foreign Ministry had previously denied the FT report, saying that China had tested a space plane. Wei’s comments indicated that Beijing came closer to confirming the supersonic weapons test. “General Wei acknowledged that the test last year was a demonstration of weapons, in contrast to the State Department’s previous aliens,” said Ankit Panda, a nuclear expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “The subject of his comments is that we should expect more such tests, perhaps, as China continues to modernize.” “We still do not understand whether China intends to install such a weapon, however,” he added. Follow Kathrin Hille and Demetri Sevastopulo on Twitter