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| President China Xi Jinping |
International Military - China will not hesitate to start a war if Taiwan declares its independence. The warning was issued by China's defense minister to his US counterpart. As is known, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chinese Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe held their first face-to-face meeting in Singapore on Friday (10/6/2022).
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"If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost," Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian quoted Wei Fenghe as saying during a meeting with Lloyd Austin as quoted by The Defense Post.
According to China's Ministry of Defense, Wei Fenghe also vowed that Beijing would crush every plot for Taiwan independence and firmly uphold the unification of the homeland. "The minister stressed that Taiwan is China's Taiwan. Using Taiwan to contain China will never work," China's Defense Ministry said.
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In turn, said the US Department of Defense, Austin told his Chinese counterpart during talks in Singapore that Beijing should refrain from further destabilizing actions against Taiwan.
The US has frequently cited what it sees as growing Chinese aggression in the region, accusing the People's Liberation Army of carrying out unsafe and dangerous activities, particularly around the South China Sea and Taiwan.
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At the same time, China has been vocal in condemning relations between the US and Taiwan. Taiwan is a self-governing territory that has been de facto ruled by its own government since 1949, when the losers of the Chinese civil war fled there and established their own government.
Beijing views Taiwan's authorities as separatists, insists that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China and vows to one day seize it, by force if necessary.
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