CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Taiwan intends to fight for itself in any armed conflict with China and is unclear as to what countries might stand beside it, the self-governing island’s foreign minister said.

China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and concerns are rising about a possible armed conflict.

In an interview last Friday with Sky News Australia, Joseph Wu said Taiwan, with a population of 23 million compared to China’s 1.4 billion, has to defend itself and is not asking other countries to fight for it.

However, asked who might fight alongside Taiwan in the event of a war with China, Wu answered, “This is a very good question.”

“A lot of people are debating strategic ambiguity or strategic clarity, but to us, we know our own responsibility,” Wu told the news channel from Taipei.

“Taiwan has to defend itself, the people have to defend Taiwan, this country, and we are determined to defend ourselves and we are not asking other countries to fight for Taiwan,” Wu added.

President Joe Biden has repeatedly said American forces would help defend Taiwan, although US official policy remains ambiguous over whether forces would be dispatched.

In comments Tuesday evening, American Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said Washington has been consistent in its approach toward Taiwan and insists that “any resolution of the (cross-Taiwan Strait) differences has to be peaceful.”

“We hope that the government here in China will commit itself to a peaceful resolution of the dispute,” Burns said in an online discussion with the Washington-based Stimson Center think tank.

The US “has the obligation as well as the interest to make sure that we can provide defensive arms to Taiwan so that the Taiwan authorities can have a proper defence and we can help them build up a deterrence,” he said.

“If Taiwan has a sufficient deterrence in place, and if other countries around the world are supporting a peaceful resolution, one would hope that that would lead the Chinese to understand the consequences of the use of force in the Taiwan Strait,” Burns said.

Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles said in March that his country had made no promise to support the United States in any future conflict over Taiwan as part of an agreement to obtain American nuclear-powered submarines.

Biden and the leaders of Australia and the United Kingdom have announced that Australia will purchase nuclear-powered attack submarines from the US to modernise its fleet, amid growing concern about China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.

Australian critics of the deal argue that the United States would not hand over as many as five of its Virginia-class submarines without assurances that they would be made available in the event of a conflict with China over Taiwan.

Asked if Taiwan was destined for war, Wu replied, “I certainly hope not.”