China accuses US of 'destabilizing' Asia-Pacific region

By Saadet Gokce

ISTANBUL (AA) –A Chinese military general on Saturday accused the US of "destabilizing" the Asia-Pacific region, rejecting Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth's allegations against Beijing.

Rear Admiral Hu Gangfeng, who is vice president of the National Defense University of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and leads the National Defense University delegation, made these remarks during a panel discussion at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a key regional defense summit in Singapore, the South China Morning Post reported.

Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun did not attend the dialogue this year, despite having participated in it on a regular basis from 2019 to 2024.

Hu dismissed Hegseth's earlier comments about China as "groundless accusations" that were "aimed at stirring up trouble, creating division, inciting confrontation, and destabilizing the Asia-Pacific."

Earlier in the day, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth urged US allies in the region to increase their defense spending, claiming that China poses a real and possibly imminent threat.

Hegseth accused Beijing of harassing its neighbors in the South China Sea, claiming that Washington is aware that "(Chinese President) Xi Jinping has ordered his military to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027."

"Some countries are promoting exclusive and confrontational small circles and drastically increased their military presence" in the region, Hu said in his response, adding that Beijing is against "the use of the Asia-Pacific waters as an arena for seeking hegemony."

"The frequent violation of others’ sovereignty and maritime rights in the name of freedom of navigation and support of Taiwan separatist forces has destabilized ... the Taiwan Strait, and disrupted the Indo-Pacific maritime security cooperation," Hu said.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday likened Ukraine to Taiwan during his keynote speech for the dialogue, which the Chinese embassy to Singapore rejected on Saturday, calling the comparison "unacceptable."

Taiwan and Ukraine "are different in nature, and not comparable at all," said the embassy on Facebook following Macron's remarks of, if Moscow "could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order, how would you phrase what could happen in Taiwan?"