"Beijing will "not hesitate to start a war" if Taiwan declares independence, Chinese defense minister has warned his US counterpart, the latest dispute between superpowers on the island.
The warning from Wei Fenghe came on Friday when he had his first face-to-face meeting with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Shangri-La Dialogue Security Summit in Singapore.
Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian quoted the minister as saying during the meeting that Wei had warned Austin that "if anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will definitely be reluctant to start a war." Will not
According to the Chinese Ministry of Defense, the Chinese minister vowed that Beijing would "thwart any conspiracy for Taiwan's independence and firmly maintain the unity of the motherland."
He stressed that "Taiwan is China's Taiwan ... using Taiwan to control China will never succeed", the ministry said.
According to the US Department of Defense, Austin "reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across Taiwan, opposed unilateral changes in the status quo, and urged (China) to refrain from further destabilizing measures against Taiwan." Stay tuned.
