China says US ‘should not play with fire' on Taiwan
BEIJING: China on Sunday warned the United States it 'should not play with fire' over Taiwan and said it had lodged 'representations' with Washington over comments made by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth at a summit in Singapore.
The US secretary of defence used his speech at an annual security forum on Saturday to warn that China was 'credibly preparing' to use military force to upend the balance of power in Asia.
He added that the Chinese military was building the capabilities to invade Taiwan and 'rehearsing for the real deal'.
In a statement released just after midnight, China's foreign ministry said it had 'lodged solemn representations with the US side' over Hegseth's comments, adding that it 'strongly deplores' his remarks.
'The US should not try to use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to contain China and should not play with fire,' it said.
Beijing, which did not send its defence minister Dong Jun to the Singapore summit, called the 'Taiwan issue' China's 'internal affair' and said foreign countries had no right to interfere.
China considers the self-ruled democratic island as its territory and has not ruled out using force to take control of it.
Hegseth also accused Beijing of 'illegally seizing and militarising lands' in the disputed South China Sea.
Beijing claims almost the entire waterway, despite an international ruling that its assertion has no merit.
The foreign ministry on Sunday claimed there had 'never been any issue' with navigation in the waterway.
China 'is committed to safeguarding its territorial sovereignty and maritime rights and interests in accordance with the law', a ministry spokesperson said.
Beijing also accused the United States of turning the Indo-Pacific region into a 'powder keg' by deploying weapons in the South China Sea.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Malay Mail
15 minutes ago
- Malay Mail
‘Reestablishing warrior culture': Pentagon to rename ship honouring gay icon Harvey Milk
WASHINGTON, June 4 — Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered the renaming of a US Navy ship named after a gay icon, the assassinated former San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, a military affairs website reported Tuesday. said it had reviewed a memo from the Office of the Secretary of the Navy that said the move was in line with Hegseth's purported goal of 'reestablishing a warrior culture' in the US armed forces. quoted an unidentified defence official as saying that Navy Secretary John Phelan had been ordered by Hegseth to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, and the timing of the upcoming announcement — during LGBTQ WorldPride month — was intentional. CBS News said the navy is considering re-titling several other ships including two named after former US Supreme Court justices — Thurgood Marshall, the first Black member of the top court, and liberal icon Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Responding to the reports, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said 'any potential renaming(s) will be announced after internal reviews are complete.' 'Secretary Hegseth is committed to ensuring that the names attached to all (Department of Defense) installations and assets are reflective of the Commander-in-Chief's priorities, our nation's history, and the warrior ethos,' Parnell said in a statement. Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the former speaker of the House of Representatives, condemned the reported move to rename the USNS Harvey Milk, calling it 'a shameful, vindictive erasure of those who fought to break down barriers for all to chase the American Dream.' 'Harvey Milk proudly served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy and was a formidable force for change -– not just in California, but in our Country,' the California congresswoman said in a statement. 'This spiteful move... is a surrender of a fundamental American value: to honor the legacy of those who worked to build a better country.' Milk served as a US Navy diver at a time when there was a ban on homosexuality in the military. One of the first openly gay politicians in America, Milk was elected to San Francisco's Board of Supervisors, where he was instrumental in passing laws banning discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Months later, in 1978, Milk was shot dead along with mayor George Moscone, by a disgruntled former city supervisor. Milk's murder helped cement his reputation as a civil rights icon, and he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The USNS Harvey Milk, a 227-metre refuelling vessel, was christened at a ceremony in 2021 attended by then-secretary of the navy Carlos Del Toro. Since taking office, President Donald Trump has moved to ban transgender troops from the military and to dismantle diversity programs, claiming they 'undermine leadership, merit, and unit cohesion, thereby eroding lethality and force readiness.' — AFP
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
China FM urges ‘healthy' ties in meeting with new US ambassador
BEIJING: China's top diplomat met with the new US ambassador to Beijing on Tuesday, calling for 'healthy' bilateral ties while Washington's envoy pressed Beijing on trade, drugs and immigration as the two powers wage a tariff war. The meeting came ahead of what the White House said was a likely call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week, after the world's two biggest economies accused each other of jeopardising a preliminary trade deal. Beijing and Washington last month agreed to slash staggeringly high tariffs on each other for 90 days after talks between top officials in Geneva. But the United States has since accused China of violating the terms of the deal, a claim that Beijing called 'bogus' and 'contrary to the facts'. China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Tuesday said he hopes recently appointed US ambassador David Perdue 'will play a positive role in promoting the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US relations', according to a readout published by Beijing's foreign ministry. Wang said China opposed what he called recent US measures that 'jeopardise China's legitimate rights and interests'. Washington should 'create the necessary conditions for China-US relations to return to the right track', Wang said. Meanwhile Perdue said on X that he 'emphasized President Trump's priorities on trade, fentanyl, and illegal immigration'. Washington has long accused China of exporting chemicals used to make the fentanyl sold in the United States, which has reported tens of thousands of deaths related to opioids annually. And the Trump administration has targeted Chinese nationals who entered the United States both legally and illegally, with the president vowing last week to aggressively revoke Chinese student visas.
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
China, U.S. Envoys Meet Amid Tariff Tensions and Drug Dispute
BEIJING: China's top diplomat met with the new US ambassador to Beijing on Tuesday, calling for 'healthy' bilateral ties while Washington's envoy pressed Beijing on trade, drugs and immigration as the two powers wage a tariff war. The meeting came ahead of what the White House said was a likely call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping this week, after the world's two biggest economies accused each other of jeopardising a preliminary trade deal. Beijing and Washington last month agreed to slash staggeringly high tariffs on each other for 90 days after talks between top officials in Geneva. But the United States has since accused China of violating the terms of the deal, a claim that Beijing called 'bogus' and 'contrary to the facts'. China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Tuesday said he hopes recently appointed US ambassador David Perdue 'will play a positive role in promoting the healthy, stable and sustainable development of China-US relations', according to a readout published by Beijing's foreign ministry. Wang said China opposed what he called recent US measures that 'jeopardise China's legitimate rights and interests'. Washington should 'create the necessary conditions for China-US relations to return to the right track', Wang said. Meanwhile Perdue said on X that he 'emphasized President Trump's priorities on trade, fentanyl, and illegal immigration'. Washington has long accused China of exporting chemicals used to make the fentanyl sold in the United States, which has reported tens of thousands of deaths related to opioids annually. And the Trump administration has targeted Chinese nationals who entered the United States both legally and illegally, with the president vowing last week to aggressively revoke Chinese student visas.
