Beijing will not hesitate to start a war should there be any effort to make Taiwan independent, Chinese defence minister Wei Fenghe has told his U.S. counterpart Lloyd Austin. “If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost,” Wei said at his first face-to-face meeting with Austin in Singapore, on the sidelines of the Shangri-la Dialogue. “The PLA would have no choice but to fight … and crush any attempt of Taiwan independence, safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.” The Chinese minister vowed that Beijing would “smash to smithereens” any effort to maintain Taiwan as an independent nation, vowing the island and its territories would be brought into China as part of the “unification of the motherland.” A statement issued by the Pentagon said Austin “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Strait, opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo, and called on the PRC to refrain from further destabilizing actions toward Taiwan.”
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