Mistake to consider China as threat, enemy: Chinese defence minister

TIL Desk/World/Beijing/ It will be a historic and strategic mistake to insist on taking China as a threat and adversary, or even an enemy, Chinese Defence Minister General Wei Fengh said on Sunday as he underlined that the China-United States relationship is at a critical and crucial juncture.”China believes that a stable China-US relationship serves the interest of both countries and the rest of the world,” he said while addressing the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore.

China and the US cooperation is vital for global peace and development, he said. “Confrontation will benefit neither of our two countries nor other countries. China opposes using competition to define bilateral relations,” he said. He added that it will be a historic and strategic mistake to insist on taking China as a threat and adversary, or even an enemy.

He told the US side to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop harming China’s interests. “Bilateral relations cannot improve unless the US side does that,” he said. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin on Saturday accused China of causing instability with its claim to the self-governing island of Taiwan and its ‘destabilising military activity’ in the area.