The meeting between the defense chiefs of China and the United States would help awaken the US to China’s strategic determination on the Taiwan question, researchers with the Chinese military told China Daily.

General Wei Fenghe, a state councilor and defense minister of China, said on Friday in Singapore that the Chinese military will resolutely smash any act of seceding Taiwan from China even at the cost of a war when he met with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue.

Wei said the People’s Liberation Army will relentlessly safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the attempts of playing the “Taiwan card” to contain China will be in vain.

Senior Colonel Zhao Xiaozhuo, a researcher of international military relations at the PLA Academy of Military Science, said Wei’s remarks indicate that China has drawn a crystal-clear red line for the US for it to deal with issues related to China’s core interests.

“We demand that the US must not shout loudly that it wants ‘peace and stability’ on the one hand, while playing dirty tricks on the other,” he said.

Colonel Cao Jing, a researcher of international studies at the academy, said the US must understand that there are actual principles and bottom lines on the Chinese side in terms of its military ties with the US.

“We will not blindly tie ourselves to cooperation when it comes to dealing with the US. If the US speaks about cooperation while making military provocations to our sovereignty, the Chinese armed forces will not hesitate but to safeguard our sovereignty, security and interests,” she said. “The US shall never underestimate our resolve.”

Zhao also stressed that it is of great importance that the two sides maintain direct, regular communication.

“The two countries’ interests and perspectives are very different in many fields. Without communication and exchange, both sides will be prone to regarding each other as an enemy and such antagonisms could easily slip into hostilities,” Zhao explained.

“There will be no management of conflict and crisis if both sides think of each other based on the worst possible scenario.”

“We must stick to talks for the long term, especially at a time when ties between the two militaries are having problems, because as long as we have mutual understanding and consensus, we will be able to control divergences and prevent our relations from falling apart,” he said.

“Both sides must have been aware that knowing each other’s bottom line is the key to averting misjudgments,” he said.

According to Cao, it is in the common interests of the international community that the Chinese and US militaries maintain a stable relationship.

“Both sides should work together toward safeguarding peace and stability, rather than make trouble,” she noted.