The US and Chinese defence ministers clashed over Taiwan in their first face-to-face talks Friday, with Beijing vowing to “smash” any “independence plot” on the island while Washington urged an end to “destabilizing actions”.
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin told his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe that China must “refrain from further destabilizing actions toward Taiwan”, the US Department of Defense said.
Wei said China would “smash to smithereens any ‘Taiwan independence’ plot and resolutely uphold the unification of the motherland”, according to the Chinese defence ministry.
