China warns USA over Taiwan: Is Beijing looking for Russia-like invasion?

China on Sunday warned the United States it "should not play with fire" over Taiwan and warned it had lodged "representations" with Washington over a speech by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth at a summit in Singapore. While Taiwan considers itself a sovereign nation, China has said it will not rule out using force to bring it under its control. as per a report.

"The US should not try to use the Taiwan issue as a bargaining chip to contain China and must not play with fire," the foreign ministry said in a statement, adding it had "lodged solemn representations with the US side" over Hegseth's comments, AFP reported.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth warned on Saturday that China's military was "rehearsing for the real deal" as it prepares for a potential invasion of Taiwan. "It's public that Xi has ordered his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027. The PLA is building the military to do it, training for it every day, and rehearsing for the real deal," the Pentagon chief said in Singapore, referring to Chinese President Xi Jinping and the People's Liberation Army, as per AFP report.


Meanwhile, China has also hit back at French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday for drawing a connection between the Ukraine conflict and the fate of Taiwan, saying the two issues are "different in nature, and not comparable at all", AFP reported.

"Comparing the Taiwan question with the Ukraine issue is unacceptable," China's embassy in Singapore said on social media, a day after Macron warned Asian defence officials in Singapore not to view Russia's invasion of Ukraine as a far-away problem.

"If we consider that Russia could be allowed to take a part of the territory of Ukraine without any restriction, without any constraint, without any reaction of the global order, how would you phrase what could happen in Taiwan?" Macron told the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier annual security forum.

China's embassy fired back that the "Taiwan question is entirely China's internal affair. There is but one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory."

FAQs

Q1. Who is US Defense Secretary?
A1. US Defense Secretary is Pete Hegseth.

Q2. Who is President of France?
A2. President of France is Emmanuel Macron.