New Delhi: China's defence minister Friday issued a warning to his United States counterpart during pair's first face-to-face talks in Singapore, AFP reported. The Chinese Minister asserted that China will 'definitely not hesitate' to start a war if the self-ruled democratic island of Taiwan declares independence.
For the unversed, China sees Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to "reunify" with it one day, eventually making it part of the country once again. President XI Jinping has insisted that China is ready to use force if it's necessary to achieve its goal.
"If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost," Wu Qian quoted defence minister Wei Fenghe as saying during a meeting with Lloyd Austin, AFP reported.
The defence minister of China asserted that Beijing would "smash to smithereens any 'Taiwan independence' plot and resolutely uphold the unification of the motherland", according to the Chinese defence ministry, AFP reported.
Austin told his Chinese counterpart that Beijing must "refrain from further destabilising actions toward Taiwan", the US Department of Defense said as per AFP.
Joe Biden Says U.S willing to use military force to defend Taiwan
Earlier this year in May, United States President Joe Biden reaffirmed his support for Taiwan during a joint press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
“That’s the commitment we made,” Biden said. “We agree with the ‘one China’ policy. We signed on to it. All the attendant agreements [were] made from there. But the idea that that can be taken by force, just taken by force. It’s just not, it’s just not appropriate.”
(With AFP Inputs)