From Mahnoor Makhdoom
BEIJING: China’s defence ministry on Friday urged the United States to stop “arming” Taiwan, after the U.S. State Department approved a possible $500 million sale to the island of infrared search and track systems for F-16 fighter jets, as well as other equipment.
“China urges the U.S. side to effectively fulfil its commitment not to support the independence of Taiwan, to immediately stop arming Taiwan, and to stop enhancing U.S.-Taiwan military ties,” ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang said in a statement issued on Friday.
Moreover, China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to U.S. planned arms sale to Taiwan and urges the United States to revoke its decision immediately, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.
The U.S. State Department has approved a possible 500-million-U.S.-dollar sale to Taiwan of infrared search and track systems for F-16 fighter jets and other equipment, according to media reports.
Wang Wenbing, the spokesperson, said the U.S. arms sale to China’s Taiwan region seriously violates the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, especially the August 17 Communique of 1982. The sale also violates international law and basic norms governing international relations, undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests, and jeopardizes peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
“It sends a gravely wrong signal to separatist forces seeking ‘Taiwan independence,’” said Wang.
He said Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. He pointed out that the Taiwan question is purely China’s internal affair that brooks no foreign interference.
China urges the United States to abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, immediately revoke its planned arms sale to Taiwan, stop arms sales to Taiwan and U.S.-Taiwan military contacts, and stop following the dangerous trend of arming Taiwan and endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Wang said.
He added China will take resolute and forceful measures to safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
