Chinese general takes a harsh line on Taiwan and other disputes at an international naval gathering

By NG HAN GUAN and CHRISTOPHER BODEEN
Associated Press

QINGDAO, China (AP) — One of China’s top military leaders has taken a harsh line on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval gathering in northeastern China that the country would strike back with force if its interests came under threat. The 19th biennial meeting of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium opened Monday in the port city of Qingdao, where China’s northern naval force is based. The four-day meeting has drawn representatives from partners and competitors including Australia, Cambodia, Chile, France, India and the U.S. and comes amid heightened tensions over China’s assertive actions in the Taiwan Strait and the East and South China seas, and as China’s navy has grown into the world’s largest by number of hulls.