Stop playing the ‘Taiwan card’, US told

In the spotlight: Zhang said that by claiming support for Taiwan’s ‘self-defence’ capacity, the United States has sent the wrong signals to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces and escalated tensions across the strait. — Bloomberg

Singapore: China strongly objected to remarks made by United States of America Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin at the ongoing 19th Shangri-La Dialogue regarding the South China Sea and Taiwan, calling them unfounded declarations and false accusations against China.

Austin’s accusation that China’s “unprofessional and frequent interceptions” of other countries’ airplanes in the air space of the South China Sea does not accord with the fact, said Lt Gen Zhang Zhenzhong, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of the Central Military Commission, at a press briefing on Saturday.