China has warned the United States that it will take "countermeasures" after the Biden administration approved more than $1.1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.
Chinese embassy spokesman Liu Pengyu said Saturday China was "firmly" opposed to the sales, which would "seriously jeopardize Sino-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," and urged Washington to " be canceled immediately". up to 60 anti-ship missiles and up to 100 air-to-air missiles.
The State Department said the sales are consistent with a long-standing US policy to supply the island with defense weapons, and described the "prompt delivery" of such weapons as "essential to Taiwan's security".
However, China has accused the US of interfering in its internal affairs. The Chinese Communist Party claims Taiwan, an autonomous democracy, as part of its territory although it has never ruled it, and has long vowed to "unite" the island with mainland China by force if necessary. "The US is interfering in China's internal affairs and undermining China's sovereignty and security interests by selling arms to Taiwan," Liu tweeted.
The 'Taiwan Independence' separatist forces are seriously endangering China-US relations and cross-strait peace and stability," Liu said, tweeting that Taiwan is "an inalienable part of Chinese territory" and warning that China "will resolutely take legitimate and necessary countermeasures"
Tensions between the United States and China have skyrocketed since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan last month. China had warned Pelosi not to make the trip and in response ordered military drills on the island for days after she left. Taiwan said Saturday it "strongly welcomes" the recent arms sales and thanked the US government for "continuing to implement its security commitments to Taiwan".
"In response to China's recent and ongoing military provocations and unilateral changes in the status quo and the creation of crises, Taiwan's resolve to defend itself is extremely firm," Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday. "This batch of arms sales includes a large number of different types of missiles needed to strengthen Taiwan's self-defense, showing the great importance that the US government attaches to Taiwan's defense needs, helps our country to get the necessary defense equipment in one." get timely and enhance our national defense capabilities. In an incident highlighting rising tensions, Taiwan's military on Thursday shot down a drone hovering over one of its outposts on the island off the coast of China. A day earlier, Taiwan said it had warned about drones hovering over three of the islands. off the coast of the Chinese port city of Xiamen