CHINA’S defence minister slammed the United States today for escalating tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.

Speaking at the Shangri-La defence forum in Singapore, Dong Jun said: “We will not allow anyone to bring geopolitical conflicts or any war, whether hot or cold, into our region.

“We will not allow any country or any force to create conflict and chaos in our region,” he said.

Mr Dong insisted that China’s “strategic culture is anchored in universal love and non-aggression.”

The Chinese minister also hit out at the Philippines for allowing a growth in the number of US military bases in the region under a 2014 pact.

Mr Dong accused the Philippines of deliberately provoking China, “emboldened by outside powers.”

He said: “China has exercised great restraint in the face of such infringements and provocations.”

But, he said: “There is a limit to our restraint.”

Speaking on Saturday, US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, insisted that US support for the Philippines was “ironclad” and praised Filipino President Ferdinand Marcos’s speech on Friday at the forum as a powerful statement “about how the Philippines is standing up for its sovereign rights under international law.”

Mr Austin stressed the significance of renewing military-to-military communications between China and the US to avoid “misperceptions” and prevent “miscalculations.”

He said: “Our goal is to make sure that we don’t allow things to spiral out of control unnecessarily.”

Mr Dong met with Mr Austin on Friday on the sidelines of the Singapore forum, which were the first in-person talks between top Chinese and US defence officials since contacts between the two countries’ militaries broke down in 2022 after then-US house speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the Chinese breakaway province of Taiwan.

The US is one of the main providers of military hardware to Taiwan even though it claims to formally support the One China policy which recognises China’s position as the only legitimate government of China.

Through the agreement the US only has formal diplomatic ties with Beijing rather than Taiwan.

Mr Dong said China remains “open to exchanges and co-operation with the US military,” but said “this requires efforts from both sides.”

He accused the US of emboldening Taiwan’s new government, which refuses to accept Beijing’s insistence that the island is part of China, of “pursuing separation in an incremental way.”

“We will take resolute actions to curb Taiwan independence and make sure such a plot never succeeds,” he said. 

He said: “Anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will only end up in self-destruction.”