China on Thursday sharpened its rhetoric directed at Taiwan, saying its independence would lead to war.
Reuters reported that Wu Qian, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, was holding his monthly press conference when the topic turned to regional tensions.
Taipei accused Beijing of flying a dozen military planes into its airspace on Sunday in an intimidation. U.S. observers said China was planning to test President Joe Biden, who had been sworn in a few days earlier.
Wu said the “military activities” in the Taiwan Strait were “necessary actions to address the current security situation”, and then warned: “Those who play with fire will burn themselves, and mean ‘independence from Taiwan’. war.’
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Taiwan and China parted ways amid the civil war in 1949, and China says it is determined to bring the island under control by force if necessary. The US switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, but is legally obliged to ensure that Taiwan can defend itself and that the self-governing democratic island enjoys strong dual support in Washington.
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Foreign Minister Antony Blinken said in a confirmation hearing on Tuesday that there was “no doubt” that China posed the greatest threat to any US and that the Trump administration was right to take a tougher stance on Asian power. take.
“President Trump seemed to be taking a tougher approach to China,” said Blinken, who served as then-Vice President Biden’s national security adviser before being promoted to deputy secretary of state under Barack Obama. “Not the way he went about it in a number of ways, but the basics were right.”
Fox News’ Morgan Phillips and Associated Press Contribute to This Report