U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned China that a war over its democratic neighbor Taiwan would have a “devastating” impact on the world.
“The whole world has a stake in maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait—the whole world. The security of commercial shipping lanes and global supply chains depends on it. And so does freedom of navigation worldwide,” Austin said during his speech at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 3.
“Make no mistake: conflict in the Taiwan Strait would be devastating,” Austin added.
Taiwan is facing a constant threat of invasion from China, which sees the self-ruled island as a part of its territory. In recent years, the threat comes in the form of China constantly sending military jets into the island’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ). In 2022, China sent 1,727 planes into Taiwan’s ADIZ, up from 960 in 2021 and 380 in 2020, according to the AFP citing data from the island’s defense ministry….