A senior Chinese military official today responding to comments by acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan says that the United States’ actions on Taiwan and the South China Sea are hardly conducive to maintaining stability in the region.
Shao added that China would defend its sovereignty at any cost should anyone try to separate Taiwan from its territory.
It views the self-ruled island as a wayward province and has not ruled out the use of force to return it to the fold.
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Earlier, Shanahan told delegates at a defense forum in Singapore that the United States would no longer “tiptoe” around Chinese behavior in Asia, with stability in the region at threat on issues ranging from the South China Sea to Taiwan.
In May, a U.S. warship sailed near the disputed Scarborough Shoal claimed by China in the South China Sea, angering Beijing at a time of tension over trade between the world’s two biggest economies.