China "will not hesitate to start a war" if Taiwan declares independence: Wu Qian, spokesman for the Chinese Defense Ministry, said, quoting his minister Weu Fenghe during the meeting with the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin.
"
If anyone dares to divide Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not hesitate to start a war at any cost
," added Wu.
A question and answer between Beijing and Washington is staged on the fate of Taiwan, with the first threatening - "we will destroy attempts at independence" - and the second intimidating: enough attempts to destabilize it.
"
Taiwan is part of China
and the 'One China' principle is the political foundation of Sino-US relations: it is impossible to use Taiwan to control China," Chinese Defense Minister
Wei Fenghe told
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin in first meeting in person had in Singapore on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialouge.
"The US recently announced another arms sale that has severely undermined China's sovereignty and security interests," said a statement.
"The Chinese government and army will destroy any attempt at Taiwan's independence and safeguard reunification."
Wei, also in the note from the Chinese Defense Ministry, said that "
the issue of peace and development is currently facing serious challenges
", citing "the initiatives for global development and global security proposed by President Xi Jinping" as "the right direction to overcome the crisis".
Peace and stability in Asia-Pacific "need the joint efforts of the countries of the region to be maintained".
In this regard, China "hopes to establish a healthy and stable relationship between the main countries of the area with the United States, which should also be the direction of the joint efforts of China and the US".
The United States "must consider China's development and growth in a rational way, not attack and defame it
, contain and suppress China and not interfere in its internal affairs or damage its interests: only in this way can bilateral relations be improved. ".
Wei also remarked that "relations between the military are fundamental for the development of bilateral relations and
the two armed forces should avoid conflicts and confrontations
".
Furthermore, during the talks, the parties considered that "the two armed forces should implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state, maintain high-level strategic communication, strengthen strategic mutual trust, manage and control conflicts and differences ", avoiding transforming differences" into conflicts and confrontations ".
Finally, the two sides "exchanged views on the international and regional situation, on the question of the South China Sea and on the crisis in
Ukraine
".
THE UNITED STATES REPLY
The US is asking China to
refrain "from implementing further destabilizing actions
against Taiwan", said US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in the first meeting of about an hour and had in Singapore with the Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe, according to what reported by the Pentagon.
Austin wrote on Twitter that he "met with Minister Wei. We discussed US-China defense relations, as well as global and regional security issues."
