China claims US will pay ‘unbearable cost’ for aiding Taiwan

The Chinese communist government is claiming that the United States will pay an "unbearable cost" for its aiding of Taiwan -- the latest muscular rhetoric from Beijing over the U.S. policy toward the disputed territory.

Tensions have been rising between Taiwan, which China views as a breakaway province and as part of its own territory. The two countries split in 1949 and China has been increasing pressure on the self-ruled nation, while opposing its involvement in international organizations. The U.S. does not formally recognize Taiwan, but maintains an unofficial alliance and has adopted a policy of "strategic ambiguity."