00:00A former top U.S. defense official says that China is unlikely to take Taiwan by force,
00:05citing a massive global fallout.
00:07Former U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Bloomberg Television
00:11that any Taiwan Strait conflict would hit the global economy far harder
00:15than the current crisis in the Strait of Hormuz.
00:18He further downplayed fears the Beijing mine attack while U.S. forces are tied up in the Middle East,
00:23noting that tensions have cooled following the recent U.S.-China summit.
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