According to US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Washington is not looking to establish an "Asian NATO" or incite conflict in the Indo-Pacific area, but rather to maintain calm.

Austin stated in a keynote lecture at the Shangri-La Dialogue, Asia's premier security forum, that “the stakes are especially stark in the Taiwan Strait."

This comes amid China's repeated warnings against US military collaboration with Taiwan, which Beijing regards to be part of its territory, according to RT.

The Secretary of Defense emphasized that Washington's position toward Taiwan has not changed – the US is committed to the One-China policy and “categorically opposes any unilateral changes in the status quo.” As a result, he allegedly opposes the island's independence.

He claimed that any cross-strait differences must be resolved by "peaceful means”, adding that the US would "continue to assist Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defense capability." By assist, he means the approval of a fourth arms sale worth $120 million of "peaceful means" naval weaponry.

Austin stated that, despite China's "growing coercion" and "provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan," the US is committed to "maintaining peace, stability, and the status quo across the Taiwan Strait," which Beijing appears to be threatening, as per Austin's claims. The top US official emphasized that maintaining peace is not just in Washington's interests, but also "a matter of international concern."

In a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, General Wei Fenghe, on Friday, Fenghe informed him that Beijing will "fight at all costs" to prevent Taiwan from seceding from China.

China "strongly condemned" Washington's approval of a $120 million arms sale to Taiwan just two days earlier, and has urged the parties to annul the agreement.

Chinese Foreign Ministry's Spokesperson, speaking at a routine briefing on Thursday, said the military shipments "seriously violate the one-China principle," damage China's sovereignty and security interests, and “severely harm China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."

Last month, the US President stated that the United States will defend Taiwan militarily if "China were to invade the island," warning that China is "flirting with danger." In return, China slammed the US pledge to "defend" Taiwan as "playing with fire."

In a meeting in Tokyo, when asked about whether the US will intervene militarily against a so-called "Chinese invasion", Biden said, "That's the commitment we made." 

"We agreed with the One China policy, we signed on to it... but the idea that (Taiwan) can be taken by force is just not appropriate," Biden said in a contradictory statement, as the One China policy states that Taiwan is a part of the sovereign mainland. "It will dislocate the entire region and be another action similar to what happened in Ukraine."

China will 'not hesitate to start war' over Taiwan - MoD

Officials reported that China's Defense Minister warned his US counterpart Friday that if Taiwan declares independence, Beijing will "not hesitate to start a war."

Wu Qian, the spokesperson of the Information Bureau of the Ministry of National Defense of the People's Republic of China, quoted Defense Minister Wei Fenghe as saying, "If anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost," during a meeting with Lloyd Austin. 

Austin: US, Japan, South Korea willing to restrain North Korea's nuclear weapon ambitions 

According to TASS, Austin stated that the US, along with Japan and South Korea, is willing to deter North Korea from its nuclear ambitions. 

Austin stated that "as our National Defense Strategy notes, we all face a persistent threat from North Korea. The United States will always stand ready to deter aggression…," adding that North Korea's "habitual" missile testing is only deepening the security cooperation among the three. 

"Together, we’ll continue to strengthen our extended deterrence against nuclear arms and ballistic-missile systems," Lloyd added.

The South Korean news agency Yonhap claimed that day that North Korea tested eight short-range ballistic missiles aimed toward the Sea of Japan.

On Sunday, June 5, North Korea fired its 18th missile test since the start of 2022. Prior to that, the DPRK had renewed its testing activities after having paused them in 2017, due to the reemergence of combined US-South Korea joint exercises.

Read more: North Korea could test nuclear missile, US issues warning