Singapore   -   aiwan is pursuing independence incrementally and those who support it will “end up in self-destruction,” China’s new defense minister warned Sunday in a wide-ranging speech at a security summit in Singapore where the extent of regional tensions was on stark display.

Minister of National Defense Adm. Dong Jun made the comments in a roughly 30-minute speech which comes days after Beijing staged major military exercises encircling the island of Taiwan after it inaugurated its new, democratically elected president last month.  “We will take resolute actions to curb Taiwan independence and make sure such a plot never succeeds,” Dong said speaking through a translator, while slamming “external interfering forces” for selling arms and having “illegal official contacts” with Taiwan, in an apparent reference to the United States, which maintains close, unofficial ties with Taiwan.  “China stays committed to peaceful reunification. However, this prospect is increasingly being eroded by separatists for Taiwan independence and foreign forces,” Dong warned.  His comments come as there has been heightened concern in the region over Beijing’s military and economic intimidation of Taiwan, which has grown more pronounced under Chinese leader Xi Jinping.  In a meeting with Dong on Friday, US defense chief Lloyd Austin called on China not to “use Taiwan’s political transition — part of a normal, routine democratic process — as a pretext for coercive measures.”