China urges US to immediately revoke arms sale to Taiwan

China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to US planned arms sale to Taiwan and urges the United States to revoke its decision immediately, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Thursday.

The US State Department has approved a possible 500-million-US-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 US arms sale to China's Taiwan region seriously violates the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US 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-US joint communiques, immediately revoke its planned arms sale to Taiwan, stop arms sales to Taiwan and US-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.