Chinese military slams US arms sales to Taiwan

BEIJING, March 3 - "We firmly oppose US arms sales to China's Taiwan region and have made solemn representations to the US side," remarked Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defense, when asked by the press to make comments on the latest US arms sale to Taiwan on Friday.

It is reported that the new round of arms sales to Taiwan worth $619 million approved by the US State Department on March 1 includes airborne missiles on F-16fighter jets and related equipment.

The spokesperson said that the US arms sales has grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, and seriously violated the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US joint communiqués, especially the August 17 Communiqué. He also stressed that such sales have severely undermined China's sovereignty and security interests, and threatened the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. China is strongly dissatisfied with this and has made solemn representations to the US side, said Tan.

"We urge the US to stop arms sales to and military contact with Taiwan, and stop meddling in the Taiwan question and exacerbating tensions across the Taiwan Strait. The Chinese People's Liberation Army has always been ready to fight back against all provocations seeking 'Taiwan independence' and interference by external forces at any time, and resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity," Tan concluded his comments with a solemn statement.