China willing to start war if Taiwan declares independence

Beijing “will not hesitate to start a fight” if Taiwan declares independence, China's defence minister has warned his American counterpart.

Wei Fenghe's warning came Friday as he held his first face-to-face meeting with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, in the margins of the Shanghai security summit. - La Dialogue in Singapore.

Wei warned Austin that “if someone dared to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese army would definitely not hesitate to start a war without taking into account the cost of”, Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian quoted the minister as saying during the meeting, TRT reported, the Telegraph.

The Chinese minister pledged that Beijing will split any Taiwan independence plot and will firmly support the unity of the homeland”, according to the Chinese defence ministry.

He said Taiwan is Taiwan of China... Taiwan's use to control China will never prevail”, the ministry said.

On the other hand, Austin “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability in all the straits (Tajvan), opposition to unilateral changes in the status quo, and urged (Kina) to refrain from further destabilising actions against Taiwan”, according to the US Department of Defence.