Taiwan "is the core of China's fundamental interests" and its separatist activities "will further stimulate our countermeasures". With these words , Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu reiterated that Beijing "does not promise to renounce the use of force" with regard to the island which it considers an "inalienable" part of the territory of the People's Republic.
China, Li observed in his speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue underway in Singapore, therefore "will not hesitate" to take the related countermeasures "if Taiwan's independence is pursued and will safeguard its sovereignty at any cost", ensuring that there will be "reunification".
The statements come in conjunction with the close encounter in the Taiwan Strait between a Chinese ship and a US destroyer, which came close to colliding .
"We remain concerned about the People's Liberation Army's increasingly risky and coercive activities in the region, even in recent days," said Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder, who was with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin , also in attendance. at Shangri-Dialogue, Singapore's annual security forum.
(Unioneonline/lf)