Chinese defense ministry slams U.S. arms sale to Taiwan

BEIJING, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the United States' arms sale to China's Taiwan region, a defense ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Wu Qian, a spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in response to the recent announcement by the U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency regarding a 300-million-U.S.-dollar arms sale to Taiwan.

The arms sale has severely violated the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, especially the August 17 Communique, Wu said.

The move has seriously undermined China's sovereignty and security, posed a grave threat to the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sent an erroneous signal to separatist elements advocating "Taiwan independence," he added.

The Taiwan question is the most important and sensitive issue at the very heart of China-U.S. relations, the spokesperson noted.

China urges the United States to halt arms sales to Taiwan, honor its commitment not to support "Taiwan independence," and cease interference in China's internal affairs, Wu said.

Any attempt to use Taiwan to contain China is doomed to fail, and seeking "Taiwan independence" by military means will lead nowhere, he noted.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army has intensified military training and readiness to resolutely safeguard China's national sovereignty and territorial integrity and firmly maintain peace and stability across the Strait, Wu said.