China vows military action against US over Taiwan row

Wei Fenghe

Singapore: Asserting China will be "reunified", Defence Minister Wei Fenghe on Sunday threatened to use armed forces against the United States if it does not stop interfering in the Taiwan issue.

"China must be and will be reunified. We find no excuse not to do so. If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese military has no choice but to fight at all costs for national unity," Wei said. "We will strive for the process of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and greatest efforts but we make no promise to renounce the use of force. Any underestimation of the PLA's (People Liberation Army) resolve and will is extremely dangerous," he added.

China considers Taiwan to be its breakaway part but Taiwanese want a separate nation. This comes a day after the US critiqued China for its policy in South-China sea and Taiwan. "China has never renounced the use of military force against Taiwan, and continues to develop and deploy advanced military capabilities needed for a potential military campaign," the US said.

In retaliation, China accused the US of making "false remarks" on the pertaining issue in Taiwan and the SCS. On Sunday, Wei said the US and China recognise that a conflict or war between them would have wide-reaching effects.

"It takes two to cooperate but only one to start a fight," he said. "We hope that the U.S. side will work with us towards the same goal, follow the principles of non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation, and steer the China-US relations in the right direction." Already engaged in a trade war, US recent comment over contentious Taiwan issue has further upset China. It has signalled that resuming talks will be tougher this time.

'Trade war to hit aviation industry'
The intensifying US-China trade war and rising fuel prices will continue to bog down airline profits this year, the International Air Transport Association said on Sunday. The 2019's net profit was forecast to be $28 billion, down from an outlook of $35.5 billion in December. "Weakening of global trade is likely to continue as US-China trade war intensifies," said IATA.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates