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Added on the 01/09/2022 09:24:15 - Copyright : AFP EN
Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning says that although China will strive for peaceful reunification with Taiwan it will not promise to "renounce the use of force". The comments come after a senior US Air Force general warned of a conflict with China as early as 2025 –- most likely over Taiwan –- and urged his commanders to push their units to achieve maximum operational battle readiness this year.
Early on Sunday and Monday mornings, Chinese aircraft including fighter jets and drones crossed the median of the Taiwan Strait - a violation of an unofficial boundary tacitly accepted by both Beijing and Taipei.
The threatening moves were prompted by a visit to Taiwan last week by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Chinese authorities say.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he hopes Beijing "will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretext to increase its aggressive military activity," at a meeting with his counterparts from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. China fired ballistic missiles and deployed fighter jets and warships on Thursday as it held its largest-ever military exercises around Taiwan, a show of force sparked by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to the island.
China may be "positioning" itself for a military show of strength around Taiwan, including missile launches, ahead of a possible visit by a senior US politician to the island, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby says. SOUNDBITE
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