U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue, said Washington would not “flinch in the face of bullying or coercion” from China.

China’s defense minister on Sunday accused the United States and its allies of trying to destabilize the Indo-Pacific – just hours after warships from the two countries were involved in a near collision.

Chinese defense minister casts the U.S. as a hegemonic power in a speech at a Singapore security conference.

China's military rebuked the United States and Canada for "deliberately provoking risk" after the countries' navies staged a rare joint sailing through the sensitive Taiwan Strait.The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet said the guided-missile destroyer USS Chung-Hoon and Canada's HMCS Montreal conducted a "routine" transit of the strait on Saturday "through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law".

China’s Defense Minister Li Shangfu used a speech in Singapore to attack US strategy toward the Indo-Pacific, saying Washington is seeking to stoke confrontation through its support for Taiwan, military deployments and building alliances in the region.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin warned that a war over Taiwan would have "devastating" effects on the global economy.Austin made the remark Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore.

China's defence minister defended sailing a warship across the path of an American destroyer and Canadian frigate transiting the Taiwan Strait, telling a gathering of some of the world's top defence officials in Singapore on Sunday that such so-called freedom of navigation patrols are a provocation to China.