The U.S. is to blame for rising tensions in the Pacific, and America’s Indo-Pacific strategy to further divide the region is “doomed to failure,” a leading Chinese military official said Sunday.
The sharp comments from Chinese Lt. Gen. Zhang Zhenzhong came just hours after U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke at the high-level Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore and blasted China’s escalating military pressure campaign on Taiwan, the island democracy Beijing considers part of its sovereign territory and has vowed to capture.
The normally reserved Mr. Austin delivered a stinging rebuke of China’s rapidly growing military footprint throughout the Pacific, specifically its recent military aircraft flyovers near Taiwan.