China says US actions threaten stability in East Asia
A senior Chinese military official says the actions of the United States on Taiwan and the South China Sea threaten the stability of the region, rejecting accusations made by acting US Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan that Beijing is a threat to East Asia.
Shao Yuanming, a senior official of the People's Liberation Army, made the comments on Saturday after Shanahan's speech at a defense forum in Singapore.
"He (Shanahan) has been expressing inaccurate views and repeating old tunes about the issues of Taiwan and the South China Sea," Shao told reporters. "This is harming regional peace and stability."
Shao also said that China would defend its sovereignty at any cost should anyone try to separate Taiwan from its territory. Beijing views the self-ruled island as a renegade province and has not ruled out the use of force to return it to the fold.
"China will have to be reunified," Shao said. "If anybody wants to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will protect the country's sovereignty at all costs."
Shanahan told delegates at the defense forum earlier on Saturday 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.
Shanahan did not directly name China when he spoke of "actors" destabilizing the region, but went on to say the United States would not ignore Chinese behavior.
However, Shao responded by saying it was the United States that was destabilizing the region with its recent actions.
In May, a US 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.
The administration US President Donald has launched an escalated trade war against China, imposing 25 percent tariffs on billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods.
Earlier this month, Trump took the trade war to another level by adding Huawei Technologies to a list of firms with which US companies cannot engage in trade unless they get a license from authorities.
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