Beijing\/Bangkok, Jun 1 (EFE).- China lodged a formal complaint and warned the US on Sunday that it “should not play with fire,” in response to US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth\u2019s assertion that Beijing is preparing an invasion of Taiwan and could pose an \u201cimminent\u201d threat.<\/p>
“The Taiwan issue is purely China’s internal affairs. No foreign country has the right to interfere,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said in a statement issued just after midnight. \u201cThe US should not use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to contain China and should not play with fire.”<\/p>
Beijing said it was “strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed” to what it considered a “provocative and inciting” speech by Hegseth that was \u201cfull of provocations.\u201d<\/p>
Hegseth claimed on Saturday during Singapore\u2019s Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia’s most important security forum, that the Chinese military has been ordered to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027 and is \u201ctraining for it every day (\u2026) rehearsing for the real deal.\u201d<\/p>
“Let me be clear: any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world. There\u2019s no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,” the Pentagon chief added. <\/p>
While China\u2019s defense ministers have attended the Shangri-La Dialogue in past years, Beijing did not sent Dong Jun to this edition and gave no explanation, therefore issuing a written statement as a response to Hegseth. <\/p>
Beijing said the US has \u201cdeployed offensive weapons in the South China Sea, fanned the flames and created tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, turning the Asia-Pacific region into a \u2018powder keg.\u2019\u201d<\/p>
The spokesperson added that \u201cthere has never been any problem with freedom of navigation and overflight in the South China Sea,\u201d where it maintains territorial disputes with neighboring countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia, and Vietnam, and that China manages its differences \u201cthrough dialogue and consultation\u201d in accordance with the law.<\/p>
\u201cChina urges the US to earnestly respect the efforts of regional countries to maintain peace and stability, stop deliberately undermining the regional peace and stability, exaggerating conflicts and confrontations and exacerbating regional tensions,\u201d it said.<\/p>
\u201cChina is strongly dissatisfied and resolutely opposed to this and has lodged solemn representations to the US,\u201d it said.<\/p>
In his speech on Saturday, Hegseth had warned that China seeks to “dominate and control” parts of the region and assured that Washington will not allow Beijing to change the status quo by force.<\/p>
The Chinese representation on the Shangri-La, which concludes this Sunday, was led by Rear Admiral Hu Gangfeng, a member of the National Defense University, who accused the US of making baseless accusations to sow trouble. EFE<\/p>
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