Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun has warned that the military is ready "with force" to prevent Taiwan independence.
His message was delivered at the annual security forum in Singapore.
"We have always been open to exchange and cooperation, but this requires both sides to meet in the middle," Jun said on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue and his meeting with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Jun and Austin spoke for more than an hour at the luxury hotel hosting the forum, which is attended by defense officials from around the world. In recent years, the forum has been seen as a barometer of US-China relations.
After the meeting, Austin said telephone talks between US and Chinese military commanders would resume "in the coming months" and Beijing welcomed the "stabilization" of security relations between the countries.
This year's Shangri-La dialogue comes a week after China held military exercises around Taiwan and warned of the danger of war following the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has labeled a "dangerous separatist".
"The Chinese People's Liberation Army has always been an indestructible and powerful force in defense of the unification of the motherland, and it will always act decisively to limit Taiwan's independence and ensure that it never succeeds in its attempts," Jun said at the forum.
"Anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will be smashed to pieces and suffer their own destruction," he warned.
Regarding the South China Sea, which China claims, the minister warned of "limits" to Beijing's restraint.
"China shows sufficient restraint in the face of rights violations and provocations, but there are limits," Dong Jun said. /BGNES
