China vowed to "crush" any independence scheme in Taiwan, while Washington urged it to refrain from any "destabilizing" steps on the island.
This came after a meeting between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his Chinese counterpart Wei Fengyi in Singapore.
During the meeting, the Chinese Defense Minister pledged that his country will "crush" to pieces any scheme for Taiwan independence, and firmly affirm the unity of the "motherland", according to what was quoted by the Chinese Ministry of Defense.
The Chinese defense minister urged his US counterpart to avoid using Taiwan to contain China, stressing that the Chinese army will take effective and resolute measures to thwart any outside interference and attempts to secession from Taiwan.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Wu Qian said his country "will not hesitate to start a war" if Taiwan declares independence.
And the spokesman quoted the Chinese Defense Minister as saying - during a meeting with his American counterpart - "If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will certainly not hesitate to start a war at all costs."
American invitations
On the other hand, the US Defense Secretary told his Chinese counterpart that China should refrain from taking any additional steps towards destabilizing Taiwan.
In an official statement issued after the talks, Austin called on China not to provide any material support to Russia in its war on Ukraine.
Reuters quoted a US official as saying that the defense ministers of the United States and China met today, Friday, in their first direct talks since the administration of President Joe Biden took office, in an attempt to ensure that broader tensions between the two countries do not spill over into misunderstandings or wrong messages at the military level.
Relations between China and the United States have been strained, with the world's two largest economies disagreeing on a number of issues ranging from Taiwan's sovereignty to China's human rights record, as well as Beijing's military activity in the South China Sea.
The autonomous island of Taiwan lives under constant threat of a Chinese invasion, and Beijing sees the island as its territory and pledged to annex it by force if necessary.