US Defense Secretary Says China To Invade Taiwan By 2027; Beijing Responds

Photo: X/ @SecDef

Hours after US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed that China is preparing to invade Taiwan by 2027 and wants to alter balance of power in Indo-Pacific, Chinese embassy hit back at America, terming the remarks provocative and instigative. 

Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Hegseth claimed that Chinese President Xi Jinping has given time till 2027 to its military to prepare to take control of Taiwan, an independent island claimed by Beijing as its own. 

Hegseth also said that the US doesn't want war or conflict with China but called upon Asian nations to boost their defense spending and work with the US to deter Beijing.

China has protested to the United States over Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s negative comments about it at the Shangri-La Dialogue, the foreign ministry said on Sunday. China objected to Hegseth's characterization of it as a threat in the Indo-Pacific, terming his remarks "deplorable" and "aimed at creating division." 

“Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region and instead touted a Cold War mentality of bloc confrontation, vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely called China a “threat.” The remarks were filled with provocations and intended to sow division. China deplores and firmly opposes them and has protested strongly to the US,” the ministry said in a post on X. 

China claimed that as part of its “Indo-Pacific strategy,” the United States has deployed offensive weaponry in the South China Sea and continues to stoke flames and create tensions in the Asia-Pacific, turning the region into a powder keg. 

“To perpetuate its hegemony and advance the so-called “Indo-Pacific strategy,” the US has deployed offensive weaponry in the South China Sea and kept stoking flames and creating tensions in the Asia-Pacific, which are turning the region into a powder keg and making countries in the region deeply concerned,” the ministry added. 

The ministry also said that Taiwan is entirely China’s internal affair, warning the United States not to "play with fire" on this issue. 

“The Taiwan question is entirely China’s internal affair. No country is in a position to interfere. The US should never imagine it could use the Taiwan question as leverage against China. The US must never play with fire on this question. China urges the US to fully abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, and stop supporting and emboldening the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces,” the ministry said. 

Earlier on Saturday, United States Defence Secretary Hegseth warned its Indo-Pacific allies that China is gearing up to seize Taiwan and that the region could soon confront a significant military crisis. 

“We are not going to sugarcoat it, the threat China poses is real. And it could be imminent,” Times Of India quoted Hegseth as saying.