China has warned the US that any attempt to make Taiwan independent from China will trigger military action by Beijing’s forces. China will “not hesitate to start a war” and “smash smithereens” any Taiwan independence efforts, its defence minister warned his US counterpart in the pair’s first face-to-face talks.
“If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chines army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost,” Defence Minister Wei Fenghe said during a meeting with Lloyd Austin on Friday.
“The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would have no choice but to fight… and crush any attempt of Taiwan independence, safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
Despite the war of words, Wei said talks with Austin “went smooth”. The meeting was held on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore for nearly an hour, double the time initially allotted.
The US and China used the annual gathering to lay out their competitive visions for the regions security in wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Beijing claims self-ruled Taiwan as its own and has not ruled out the use of force to take control of the island.
Mr Austin later called Chines military activity “provocative, destabilising”. He said there were a number of recorded Chinese aircraft flying near the Island on a near daily-basis, which “undermine peace and stability in the region”.
Mr Austin spoke about the importance of maintaining fully open lines of communications with the Chinese military, to avoid any misunderstanding.
Source: Al Jazeera, BBC News, Bloomberg, image from BBC News