
Russia accused the United States on Saturday of "playing with fire" around Taiwan while China said it will press on working for "peaceful reunification" with the democratically-governed island and pledged to take forceful steps to oppose any external interference, a thinly-veiled reference to Washington.
Tensions over Taiwan between Washington and Beijing have soared after a visit there in August by U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which was followed by large-scale Chinese military drills as well as a pledge by U.S. President Joe Biden to defend the Chinese-claimed island.