Chinese general takes a harsh line on Taiwan

Delegates pose before the opening ceremony of the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium in Qingdao. PIC/AFP

One of China's top military leaders took a harsh line on regional territorial disputes, telling an international naval gathering in northeastern China on Monday 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 in the port city of Qingdao, where China's northern naval force is based, providing a vivid backdrop to China's massive military expansion over the past two decades that has seen it build or refurbish three aircraft carriers.

The four-day meeting has drawn representatives from partners and competitors including Australia, Cambodia, Chile, France, India and the US 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.

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