SINGAPORE — State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on June 2 reiterated China’s firm position on Taiwan, warning against any forces’ attempt to separate the island from the country.

The Taiwan question bears on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and China must be and will be reunified, said the minister during a speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue being held in Singapore.

“If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese military has no choice but to fight at all costs for national unity,” said the state councilor.

Wei said no attempts to split China shall succeed and foreign intervention in the Taiwan question is doomed to failure.

“Any underestimation of the PLA’s (People’s Liberation Army) resolve and will is extremely dangerous,” he said.

“We will strive for the prospects of peaceful reunification with utmost sincerity and greatest efforts, but we make no promise to renounce the use of force. Safeguarding national unity is the sacred duty of the PLA,” he noted.

Officially known as the Asia Security Summit, the Shangri-La Dialogue has been organized and convened annually by the British think tank International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Singaporean government since 2002.

At the event this year, defense ministers, policy makers, experts from about 40 countries gathered in Singapore from May 31 to June 2 to discuss security issues in the Asia-Pacific.