Wu Qian, spokesperson of China's Ministry of National Defense. Photo: Screenshot from China Central Television

 
The US' arms sales to China's Taiwan region seriously violate the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, said Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Senior Colonel Wu Qian on Monday, in response to US approval of arms sales worth $385 million to China's Taiwan region, emphasizing that it gravely undermines China's sovereignty and security interests, harms China-US relations and military-to-military ties, and endangers peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.

We are strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to it, and have lodged stern representations with the US side, the spokesperson stated.

The US has a notorious record on arms sales to the Taiwan region. While claiming to maintain peace and promote stability, it has in fact been meddling in internal affairs and undermining peace, which the international community has long recognized. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, driven by their "Taiwan independence" agenda, recklessly sacrifice the safety and well-being of the Taiwanese compatriots to pay "protection fees" to the US with ordinary people's hard-earned money. Their attempts to "rely on the US to seek independence" and "pursue independence through military means" will ultimately lead to self-destruction, Wu warned.

The Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests, the basic political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations, he said. 

We urge the US to keep its commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence," stop arming Taiwan in any form, and take concrete actions to maintain relations between the two countries and between the two militaries. Wu said that the Chinese People's Liberation Army will continue to strengthen its military preparedness and resolutely defeat any "Taiwan independence" separatist attempts or external interference.

Global Times