BEIJING, May 31. /TASS/. The United States should not send wrong signals to Taiwan independence supporters and encourage the island's secession with arms, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun said this during talks with his US counterpart Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security conference in Singapore.

"The Taiwan issue is solely China's internal affair, and outside forces have no right to interfere in it. China strongly opposes the US serious violation of its commitments and sending wrong signals on Taiwan independence," the defense ministry quoted Dong Jun as saying on its website. "We urge the US to correct its mistakes, it is impossible to support [Taiwan's] independence in any way through arms," he pointed out.

Taiwan has been governed by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Since then, Taiwan has retained the flag and some other attributes of the former Republic of China that existed on the mainland before the Communists took power. Official Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People’s Republic of China. The United States broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 and established relations with China. While recognizing the one-China policy, Washington continues to maintain contacts with the Taipei government. The US is Taiwan's main arms supplier.