CHINA will “not hesitate to start a war” if Taiwan declares independence, China’s defence minister warned his United States counterpart in their first face-to-face talks today, said officials.

“If anyone dares to split China and Taiwan, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost,” Defence Minister Wei Fenghe was quoted as saying during a meeting with Lloyd Austin.

The Chinese minister vowed that Beijing will “smash to smithereens any ‘Taiwan independence’ plot and resolutely uphold the unification of the motherland”, according to the Chinese Defence Ministry.

He “stressed that Taiwan is China’s Taiwan… Using Taiwan to contain China will never prevail”.

Austin, during the talks in Singapore, told his Chinese counterpart that Beijing must “refrain from further destabilising actions toward Taiwan”, said the US Defence Department.

Taiwan, a self-ruled, democratic island, lives under the constant threat of invasion by China, which views the island as its territory and vows to one day seize it, by force if necessary. – AFP, June 10, 2022.