U.S. 'playing with fire' on Taiwan, China says ahead of defence meeting

By Ben Blanchard
BEIJING, May 30 (Reuters) - The United States is "playing
with fire" with its support for self-ruled Taiwan, China said on
Thursday, in angry comments ahead of a meeting between Defence
Minister Wei Fenghe and acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick
Shanahan.
The two countries, locked in an escalating trade war, are
also at odds over a series of strategic issues, from the
disputed South China Sea to democratic Taiwan, claimed by China
as its sacred territory, to be taken by force if needed.
Wei and Shanahan - who on his first day as acting defence
secretary in January said the U.S. military would focus on
"China, China, China" - are both attending the annual Shangri-La
defence forum in Singapore which begins on Friday, where they
are expected to meet.
China has been particularly incensed by recent U.S. Navy
patrols in the Taiwan Strait, U.S. legislation in support of
Taiwan and a meeting between Taiwan's national security chief
David Lee and White House national security adviser John Bolton.
Speaking at a regular monthly news briefing, Chinese Defence
Ministry spokesman Wu Qian described military ties between
Beijing and Washington as generally good.
But he took a much darker tone when asked about U.S. support
for Taiwan, an issue China has long described as the most
sensitive in relations between the two countries.
"Recently, the U.S. sides has been continually playing the
'Taiwan card', trying in futile to 'use Taiwan to control
China'. This is deluded," Wu said.
"The series of actions the U.S. side has taken is playing
with fire, seriously harms the development of military relations
between China and the United States, and seriously harms peace
and stability in the Taiwan Strait area."
Taiwan's air, sea and land forces conducted an exercise to
repel an invading force on Thursday, as its defence minister
pledged to defend the island against what it sees as China's
rising military threat. Washington has no formal ties with Taipei, but is its most
important international supporter and main supplier of arms.
A senior U.S. defence official said the fact that Shanahan
was going to the Shangri-la dialogue during a period of tension
with Iran was a sign that the United States was committed to the
region and its allies.
During a meeting with Wei, Shanahan is expected to bring up
better communication between the two militaries to avoid the
risk of miscalculation, the U.S. official said.
While Wei will likely tackle the Sino-U.S. trade dispute and
the hardening Trump administration approaches to Taiwan and the
South China Sea, Asian states will be looking for calming
messages, according to security experts and regional diplomats.
"Regional countries will be expecting reassurances that
China's intentions are in fact peaceful given its growing
military might," said Singapore-based regional security analyst
Ian Storey.
Storey, of Singapore's ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute, said Wei
must also speak to his domestic constituents, given the fact his
address and a rare question-and-answer session are expected to
be shown prominently in China.
"In the current environment maybe they won't want him to be
too accommodating. He can be expected to blame the U.S. for
growing tensions in the South China Sea and there is no way he
is going to admit that China is part of the problem."