China’s Defence Minister Dong Jun on Thursday described the formation of regional alliances as “small circles for hegemony” as he vowed that the Chinese military will not tolerate any foreign interference to integrate Taiwan with the mainland. Speaking at the 12th Beijing Xiangshan Forum, a security dialogue modelled on Singapore’s Shangri-La dialogue to discuss global security issues, Dong hit out at the formation of the regional groupings, in a veiled attack on Quad and AUKUS.
China has been consistently attacking Quad, the quadrilateral alliance consisting of the US, India, Japan and Australia, and trilateral AUKUS, comprising Australia, the UK and the US, saying that the groupings were aimed at containing its rise. The Asia-Pacific regional blocs and military alliances are “small circles for hegemony,” Dong said, projecting China’s “non-alignment policy” as a model for inclusive, cooperative security partnerships, the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post reported. On Taiwan, which China claims as part of its mainland, Dong said, “Taiwan’s return is an integral part of the postwar order.”
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would “never allow any separatist plot to succeed” or tolerate foreign military interference, he said. He also criticised the outside powers interfering in the South China Sea dispute in the name of freedom of navigation. While pledging to accelerate talks on a binding Code of Conduct with ASEAN countries on the China Sea dispute, he criticised “extra-regional powers” for using “freedom of navigation” to provoke, and said safeguarding China’s maritime rights was a defence of the post-war order.