The Chinese foreign ministry has hit back at US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for repeatedly criticizing China by name over Taiwan and the South China Sea at a security conference in Singapore.

SINGAPORE: China warned the United States against using Taiwan as "leverage" against Beijing, responding to remarks by the US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Shangri-La Dialogue. "The US should never imagine it could use the Taiwan question as leverage against China,

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While the U.S. remains a “very important” strategic partner, the Beijing-claimed island “fully recognizes” the need to strengthen its defense capabilities, a Defense Ministry official said.

China has warned the U.S. of its "first red line that cannot be crossed" after a report that President Donald Trump intends to increase arms sales to Taiwan.

China on Saturday criticised as a "double standard" attempts to link the defence of Ukraine with the need to protect Taiwan from a Chinese invasion - a thinly veiled reference to a speech by French President Emmanuel Macron in Singapore on Friday night.

US defence secretary Pete Hegseth cautioned that China is actively preparing to use military force to expand its influence in the Indo-Pacific region,

Reporting from Beijing, NBC’s Janis Mackey Frayer examines Taiwan’s urgent military buildup—including U.S.-made HIMARS systems—as fears mount over a potential Chinese invasion. McCain Institute Executive Director,