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China to give resolute response to any US steps on Taiwan, defense chief vows

The Chinese defense chief pointed out at the meeting with his US counterpart that China’s armed forces had every capability to ensure a reunification with the island

BEIJING, November 22. /TASS/. China will provide a resolute and powerful response to any steps that the US may take to raise tensions around Taiwan, Chinese Defense Minister and State Council member Wei Fenghe said at a meeting with Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of a gathering of the defense ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states and dialogue partners in Cambodia on Tuesday.

"Every US step raising tensions with regard to the Taiwan issue will definitely be met with resolute and powerful countermeasures, it will be rebuffed," Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson Tan Kefei quoted Wei Fenghe as saying at a special briefing.

The Chinese defense chief pointed out at the meeting with his US counterpart that China’s armed forces had every capability to ensure a reunification with the island.

The meeting was held on the margins of the ASEAN-Plus Defense Ministers' Meeting taking place in the Cambodian city of Siem Reap on November 21-23. The Chinese and US defense chiefs last met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue on regional security in Singapore in June. However, relations between Beijing and Washington dramatically worsened after US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi had visited Taiwan in August, and dialogue between the defense agencies was actually suspended.

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