Updated: Jun 2, 2025 https://time.com/7290272/china-united-states-conflict-taiwan-pete-hegseth-threat-comments/ China Urges U.S. to ‘Stop Inciting Conflict’ in Asia-Pacific Region in Blistering Response to Hegseth Mohd Rasfan—Getty Images by Rebecca Schneid Reporter China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Sunday issued a strong public rebuke of U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, accusing him of touting a “cold war mentality” after he said China poses a real “threat” that "could be imminent." In a statement posted online, the ministry urged the country to “stop inciting conflict” in the "Asia-Pacific." “China urges the U.S. to fully respect the efforts of countries in the region to maintain peace and stability, stop deliberately destroying the peaceful and stable environment cherished by the region, and stop inciting conflict and confrontation and escalating tensions in the region,” the statement read. The ministry shared its stance after Hegseth addressed the Shangri-La Dialogue defense conference in Singapore on Saturday and issued a warning about China's ambitions in Asia, saying it “hopes to dominate and control too many parts of this vibrant and vital region.” “China seeks to intimidate you in your own waters,” Hegseth told the crowd of defense ministers and security officials. “China’s military harasses Taiwan.” “It has to be clear to all that Beijing is credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific,” Hegseth said, arguing that the other countries in the room should be upgrading their own militaries and boost defense spending to prepare. “We are not going to sugarcoat it—the threat China poses is real and it could be imminent.” In response, China’s foreign ministry said that Taiwan is an “internal affair" and argued that the U.S. is overstepping its bounds by “stoking flames” in the South China Sea. “No country in the world deserves to be called a hegemonic power other than the U.S. itself, who is also the primary factor undermining the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific,” China said. The ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) claims that Taiwan—which has its own democratically elected government—is a breakaway territory of China that is illegally run by separatists, and they seek to annex it or carry out a “reunification.” The U.S. does not diplomatically recognize Taiwan, but it serves as a key ally and has made “available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability,” according to Congress. Tensions have risen between Taiwan and China in recent months, as both the U.S. and China have ramped up their military presence in the South China Sea. However, Hegseth said in his speech in Singapore that President Donald Trump “does not seek war.” "We do not seek regime change, nor will we instigate or disrespect a proud and historic culture. We will be ready, but we will not be reckless," said Hegseth of the U.S.' intentions. "Instead, we seek peace. But we must ensure that China cannot dominate us—or our allies and partners." Amid mounting geopolitical tensions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a press statement on May 28 that the State Department and Homeland Security will work to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.” Meanwhile, China and the U.S. are in the midst of a trade war as they go back-and-forth regarding tariffs. On May 12, both nations agreed to significantly lower their tariffs for a 90-day period. The U.S. said it would lower import taxes on goods coming from China from 145% down to 30%. While China agreed to lower its tariffs from 125% to 10%. It was agreed that the actions would be put into effect by May 14, but progress has stalled since the marathon trade talks held in Geneva. On May 30, Trump accused China of “violating” its trade agreement with the U.S. “Two weeks ago China was in grave economic danger! The very high tariffs I set made it virtually impossible for China to trade into the United States marketplace,” said Trump via Truth Social, claiming that there was “civil unrest” as a result of the high levies. In response, China said that the U.S. has “discriminatory restrictions” in its use of export controls within the chip industry. “Recently, China has repeatedly raised concerns with the U.S. regarding its abuse of export control measures in the semiconductor sector and other related practices,” China U.S. embassy spokesperson Liu Pengyu told NBC News. “China once again urges the U.S. to immediately correct its erroneous actions, cease discriminatory restrictions against China and jointly uphold the consensus reached at the high-level talks in Geneva.” During an appearance on CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he's "confident" that when Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping speak, the trade matter will be "ironed out." But he claimed that China is withholding critical minerals and rare earths that they agreed to release during marathon trade talks, which would need to be discussed. Elsewhere, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Friday said that China isn’t America’s biggest threat, and that the U.S. should look inward. Speaking at the Reagan National Economic Forum in Simi Valley, Calif., Dimon said: “China is a potential adversary—they’re doing a lot of things well, they have a lot of problems. But what I really worry about is us. Can we get our own act together? Our own values, our own capability, our own management.”
As the US bombs Iran and enters another war, China is the likely winner By Alan Kohler 3h ago https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-23/trump-us-iran-war-economy-china/105446938 Throughout China's rise as an industrial power, overseen recently by President Xi Jinping, America has been constantly weakened by wars and conflict. (Reuters: Jason Lee) Iran-Israel war live updates: First images of attack sites emerge as Iran's president demands response to US 'aggression' Throughout China's rise as an industrial power since it joined the World Trade Organization on December 11, 2001 — exactly three months after 9/11 — America has been constantly sidetracked and weakened by wars and unrest. It started with the "War on Terror" after 9/11, then Afghanistan, Iraq in 2003, Yemen from 2002, Libya in 2007, Syria from 2014, the contested US election and riots of January 6, 2020, Ukraine and then Gaza over the past two years, Donald Trump's two trade wars, and now … Iran. Trump understood the problem and campaigned on "no more wars," but has been unable to resist the pressure from America's military establishment and Israel. Donald Trump confirms Iranian strikes in White House address While Trump fights, China makes friends Meanwhile, China has been quietly making friends, building its military muscle as part of a frenetic industrial policy, and not using it (although it's been doing some industrial-scale espionage to get technology). China's leaders still work on the old-fashioned idea that economic policy is for improving the prosperity of citizens and strengthening the country, not for conducting ideological culture wars, and that diplomacy is about winning friends and influencing people. Events last week were a perfect example of the difference between the world's two superpowers. As Trump was leaving the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, last week to prepare to bomb Iran, flinging threats at the other six members and refusing to sign the communique, Chinese President Xi Jinping was in Astana, Kazakhstan, for the second China-Central Asia Summit. Leaders of the five "stan" countries met with President Xi Jinping at the Central Asia Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan, on June 17. (Sultan Dosaliev/Kyrgyz Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters) The Astana summit's outcome was a "Treaty of Permanent Good‑Neighbourliness and Friendly Cooperation", led and signed by Xi on behalf of China and the leaders of the five stans — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. They adopted the "Astana Declaration", affirming the "China‑Central Asia Spirit" of "mutual respect, trust, benefit and assistance". War weakens everyone Until the 20th century, wars were fought for plunder and slaves: they were mostly heists, enriching invaders with loot and hostages dragged away to work for free. That especially goes for the British and European colonisers of the 17th to 19th centuries, and before them, ancient Rome, Carthage, Alexander the Great, and various ancient and medieval warlords and pirates. But looting and plunder are out these days, or at least it can't be obvious, and slaves are definitely out; wars are designed to entrench or inflate national leaders, usually autocrats or would-be autocrats, and do nothing but weaken and distract everyone involved. Photo shows Donald Trump speaks sitting in the Oval Office. What this attack has indicated, yet again, is that the US and Israel are working hand in glove when it comes to the attack on Iran and the attempt to remake the Middle East. That is even more so when it is based on lies (Iraq) or goes too long (Vietnam and Afghanistan) or goes too far (Gaza) because it not only comes with a crippling cost, it saps morale, divides the country and erodes global support. Russia's economy is being ruined by its invasion of Ukraine, probably irreparably, and Israel's moral foundations and international standing are being destroyed by its levelling of Gaza and refusal to accept a Palestinian state. Iran's regime is now being brought undone by its insistence on enriching uranium for nuclear weapons of war and refusing to give up. But the big loser throughout has been, and still is, America, debilitated by its fury and expensive over-reach. Workers assemble circuit boards at a production line in a factory in China's southern city of Shenzhen in 2009. (Reuters: Bobby Yip) China's industrial technology military complex Throughout America's warmongering, China has been peacefully remaking its history, starting with the "Four Modernisations" of Deng Xiaoping around 1980 and culminating with joining the WTO in 2001. Then, in 2018, during Trump's first term as president, China got a wake-up call. On December 1 of that year, Meng Wanzhou, the chief financial officer of Huawei and daughter of its founder, was arrested by the Canadian Mounties in Vancouver on a provisional US extradition request. Two months later, she was charged with fraud by the US Department of Justice. Four years later, the case was dismissed. At the same time, the US imposed an effective embargo on semiconductor exports to China as part of a general trade war initiated by Trump. All of which had been preceded by an Australian ban in August 2018 on Huawei taking part in the rollout of 5G mobile infrastructure because of national security concerns, which was, rightly, seen as a curtain-raiser for the US main event. China was blindsided by the restrictions on semiconductors from the US, shocked because they pride themselves on forward planning. Photo shows A graphic of President Xi Jinping and President Trump in front of picture of the Chinese and US national currency. A decade ago the Chinese government announced plans to transform the country from "a low-cost manufacturing base into a high-tech superpower". Did it work? So, China's leadership set about fixing it. Not only did they invest billions in developing a semiconductor industry, but they also spent even more money on virtually every other industrial product to make sure they had complete independence. If the US could block semiconductors today, tomorrow it could be chemicals, cars, robots, or solar panels. Trump has shown they were right. Chinese banks were told to stop lending to real estate — property developers simply couldn't get bank funding — but anyone with an industrial project got a hearing. In just a few years, bank lending shifted dramatically towards industrial products and away from real estate. So, China has spent the past seven years since that fateful arrest in Vancouver in 2018 building a formidable industrial technology military complex, but it has not invaded anyone or gotten involved in any wars.