SINGAPORE _ China is open to talks with the U.S. but is ready to fight if needed, Defense Minister Wei Fenghe said, as trade frictions grow between the world's biggest economies.
"If the U.S. wants to talk, we will keep the door open," Wei said on Sunday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, a major meeting of security officials for Asia. "If they want to fight, we will fight to the end."
A day earlier, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told the same gathering that the U.S. and China would eventually resolve their differences, downplaying the significance of escalating trade tensions even as he ripped Beijing's leaders for behavior that "sows distrust" in Asia.
The trade conflict between the U.S. and China took a dramatic turn for the worse in May when President Donald Trump hiked tariffs after accusing Beijing of reneging on commitments in negotiations. The spat is spurring fears that the two nations are lurching toward an intractable rivalry, one that has already caused jitters in markets around the world.
