China has said it will “never compromise” on the issue of Taiwan, in its first military talks with the US since 2021.
It urged the US to “stop arming Taiwan” and take its concerns “seriously”.
This comes just days ahead of pivotal elections in Taiwan, which could push the island further towards - or away - from Beijing.
China claims Taiwan as part of its own territory, but the island sees itself as distinct from the Chinese mainland.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“China expressed its willingness to develop healthy and stable military-to-military relations with the United States on the basis of equality and respect,” said the defence ministry readout.
In 2022, China refused to resume talks as a protest move after then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022.
Their resumption early this week follows a deal struck by Chinese president Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Joe Biden during a meeting in November.
Separately, Taiwan has said it does not consider the launch of a Chinese satellite over the island’s southern airspace on Tuesday an act of election interference.
Chinese state media said the satellite, named the Einstein Probe, is used to “observe mysterious transient phenomena”.
The island’s main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT) criticised the “arbitrary” use of an islandwide alert as fear-mongering.
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