West aims to spread military conflict to Asia-Pacific – Shoigu
The West is now seeking to expand the current European conflict, that it is responsible for, to Asia, Russia's Defense Minister has warned. Sergey Shoigu was speaking at China’s biggest annual military diplomacy event, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, on Monday.
“Having orchestrated an acute crisis in Europe, the West is now looking at potentially spreading it to the Asia-Pacific region, and what’s more, in several directions,” Shoigu said.
The minister stressed that the direct involvement of the nuclear-armed states in the confrontation will amplify “strategic risks.”
Shoigu noted that lately the West has been actively pursuing the possibility of deploying its military to the region, on the premise of creating “a joined Euro-Atlantic and Indo-Pacific security alliance,” which would justify the presence of NATO military bases in Asia.
According to the minister, such an approach drastically undermines the principle of unified security, promoted by Russia and China, which Chinese President Xi Jinping calls “a community of shared future.”
Russia - China relations are becoming increasingly more appealing to other countries, said Shoigu, adding that “the circle of our friends and like-minded people who do not want to be drawn into the confrontational agenda imposed by the collective West is invariably growing.”
Tensions in the Asia-Pacific region have been rising recently, fueled by the standoff over Taiwan between the US and China, which considers the self-governing island to be part of its sovereign territory and has conducted numerous military exercises in the area. Washington recently approved the sale of $440 million worth of military equipment to Taiwan, a move strongly condemned in Beijing.
Meanwhile, the Korean Peninsula has emerged as another flashpoint in the region, with North Korea repeatedly conducting missile tests in response to joint South Korea-US military exercises.
