China aggression could trigger conflict over Taiwan, says Pentagon

The official cited the "lasering" of an Australian spy plane by a Chinese warship in the Arafura Sea earlier this year as an example. US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin raised the issue in his 90-minute meeting with Chinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe at the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meetings in Cambodia last week. On Tuesday, China's military said a US cruiser "illegally intruded" into waters near the South China Sea Spratly Islands and that it had monitored and then drove away the guided missile cruiser. Said Tian Junli, spokesman for the Southern Theatre Command of the People's Liberation Army: "The…