US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on Saturday condemned China’s “provocative and destabilizing” military activities near Taiwan, an autonomous island that Beijing considers its territory.
“We are seeing increasing pressure from Beijing. We have witnessed a progressive increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan,” Austin told Shangri-la Dialogue at a security forum in Singapore.
“This includes aircraft flying close to Taiwan in record numbers in recent months and almost daily.”
Tensions over Taiwan between Washington and Beijing have escalated in recent months.
Beijing considers this island of 24 million to be one of its provinces on the mainland, where nationalist troops, defeated by Mao Tse-tung’s communist forces, fled for refuge in 1949.
Indeed, China often reiterates its goal of taking the island back by force, sooner or later, and if necessary.
In Singapore, defense officials from both countries met for the first time on Friday and discussed the issue.
Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, according to a spokesman for his ministry, “If someone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not hesitate to start a war at any cost.” Said.
source: Noticias
[author_name]
