INTERNATIONAL: The Chinese army "will not hesitate to go to war and fight to the end" in case anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, said State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Sunday in a speech delivered at the Shangri-La Dialog in Singapore during the Asian security summit.

The Chinese army "will not hesitate to go to war and fight to the end" in case anyone dares to secede Taiwan from China, said State Councilor and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Sunday in a speech delivered at the Shangri-La Dialog in Singapore.

"In case anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, we the Chinese army will surely not hesitate to go to war, fight at all costs and fight to the end. This is the only choice for China. Here I'd also warn the Taiwan secessionists and the forces behind them that seeking to split Taiwan from China is a dead end, which is simply a delusion. To be slavishly dependent on foreigners to gain some recognition will never work and those who embrace the idea should stop the daydreaming," said Wei.

China has made "impressive progress" in developing new nuclear weapons, but will only use them for self-defense, and never use them first, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe told delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue on Sunday.

In response to a question about reports last year on construction of more than 100 new nuclear missile silos in China's east, he said China "has always pursued an appropriate path to developing nuclear capabilities for protection of our country".

He said the ultimate goal of China's nuclear arsenal was to prevent nuclear war.

"We developed nuclear capabilities to protect the hard work of the Chinese people and protect our people from the scourge of the nuclear warfare," he said.

The three-day summit was held in Singapore from Friday to Sunday after a two-year suspension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The summit focused on security in the Asia-Pacific region and viable solutions.