China “wouldn’t hesitate“to go to war if Taiwan declared its independence, warned the Chinese Minister of Defense on Friday, during a meeting in Singapore with his American counterpart, devoted in particular to this subject of deep dispute between the two countries.
“If anyone dared to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military would not hesitate for a moment to start a war, whatever the cost.“, said a spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, Wu Qian, reporting the remarks of the Minister, Wei Fenghe, made during a meeting with the American Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
According to the Chinese Ministry of Defense, Beijing – which considers the island as an integral part of its territory – “would shatter into a thousand pieces“any attempt at independence.
For his part, Lloyd Austin told Wei Fenghe that Beijing should “abstainof any new destabilizing action in this region, according to the Pentagon.
He has “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in the (Taiwan) Strait, an opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo and called on (China) to refrain from any further destabilizing actions towards Taiwan“, according to the same source.
The two officials, who spoke on the phone in April, were meeting for the first time since Mr Austin took office, on the sidelines of the security forum “Shangri La’s Dialogue“, held until Sunday in Singapore, for the first time since 2019, due to the pandemic.
Tensions around the China Sea
The points of contention have multiplied in recent years between the two countries: South China Sea, growing influence of China in Asia-Pacific, war in Ukraine or Taiwan.
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