Chinese naval drills near the Taiwan Strait<\/p>\n
President Xi Jinping has told the People\u2019s Liberation Army to \u201cfocus all its energy on fighting\u201d in preparation for war, amid deepening friction in relations between China and the United States over Chinese Taipei.<\/strong><\/p>\n President Xi, on a visit to a military command center on Wednesday, said the army must \u201ccomprehensively strengthen military training in preparation for war,\u201d the People\u2019s Daily<\/em>,\u00a0the main newspaper\u00a0in\u00a0China, reported.<\/p>\n \u201cFocus all [your] energy on fighting, work hard on fighting and improve [your] capability to win,\u201d the president was quoted as saying. The army must also \u201cresolutely defend national sovereignty and national security\u201d as China was in an \u201cunstable and uncertain\u201d security situation, he said.<\/p>\n In a similar visit to the command center in 2016, the Chinese president told officers to be \u201cloyal\u201d and \u201cresourceful\u201d in fighting and \u201ccourageous and capable of winning wars.\u201d<\/p>\n President Xi last month made a veiled attack on Washington\u2019s increasingly explicit support for Taipei at the 20th party congress, blaming \u201cforeign interference\u201d for exacerbating tensions.\u00a0\u201cWe will never promise to renounce the use of force.\u201d<\/p>\n In September, China lodged \u201cstern representations\u201d with Washington after US President Joe Biden said American forces would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack.<\/p>\n After the US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, the Chinese military reportedly moved several warships and planes near the median line, an unofficial border between China and Taipei in the Taiwan Strait.<\/p>\n This week, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson criticized a visit by Britain\u2019s Trade Minister Greg Hands to Taipei and told the British government to \u201ccease sending wrong signals to separatist forces for Taiwan independence.\u201d<\/p>\n China\u2019s defense minister earlier warned US secretary of defense that Beijing will start a war without any hesitation if Taiwan declares independence. He also said China would strongly resist any conspiracy against the Taiwan region and would defend its motherland at any cost.\u00a0\u201cIf anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost,\u201d Defense Minister Wei Fenghe said during a meeting with his American counterpart Lloyd Austin on June 10.<\/p>\n China considers Taipei as a breakaway province that should be reunited with the mainland under the internationally-recognized One China policy. The sovereignty is subject to international recognition, including by the United States. But, in violation of its stated policy and in an attempt to irritate Beijing, Washington has recently expanded diplomatic contacts with the self-proclaimed government in Chinese Taipei.<\/p>\n Washington is also the island\u2019s largest weapons supplier.<\/p>\n Relations between China and the US have strained in recent years, with the world\u2019s two largest economies clashing over a range of issues, Chinese Taipei included.<\/p>\n