“Hegseth deliberately ignored the call for peace and development by countries in the region, and instead touted the Cold War mentality for bloc confrontation, vilified China with defamatory allegations, and falsely called China a ‘threat.’ The remarks were filled with provocations and intended to sow discord. China deplores and firmly opposes them and has protested strongly to the U.S.,” the statement said.

China also drew a red line on Taiwan, saying the question of the island’s sovereignty is “entirely China’s internal affair” and the United States “must never play with fire on this question.”

“The Taiwan question is entirely China’s internal affair. No country is in a position to interfere. The U.S. should never imagine it could use the Taiwan question as leverage against China. The U.S. must never play with fire on this question. China urges the U.S. to fully abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, and stop supporting and emboldening the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces,” the statement continued.

The rebuke from China follows Hegseth’s remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Friday, an event that Beijing chose not to attend.

Hegseth’s speech centered on China, warning of a “real” threat from the East Asian country, since it is “credibly preparing to potentially use military force to alter the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.”

“There’s no reason to sugar coat it. The threat China poses is real, and it could be imminent,” Hegseth said. The use of military force to take Taiwan “would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world.”