Beijing Vows To Respond To US Arms Sales To Taiwan

China vowed on Wednesday that it will make a “proper and necessary response” if the US proceeds with its latest planned arms sale to Taiwan.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the sale of US$600 million in armed drones to the island “brutally interferes in China’s internal affairs and seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests.”

The US should cancel all such sales to Taiwan “so as to avoid further damage to China-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing.

Beijing will make a “proper and necessary response according to the development of the situation,” Wang said.

The US State Department said Tuesday it had greenlighted Taiwan’s purchase of four “weapons ready” remotely piloted aircraft and related equipment, the latest in a series of arms transfers for the island.

In its announcement, the department said the proposed sale “serves US national, economic, and security interests by supporting the recipient’s continuing efforts to modernise its armed forces and to maintain a credible defensive capability.”

Just last week, the Trump administration approved plans for a US$2.37 billion sale of Harpoon missile systems to Taiwan. That came hours after Beijing had announced sanctions on American defence contractors, including Boeing, the lead contractor on the Harpoon deal, over a previous weapons deal.

China-US relations have plunged to their lowest level in decades amid disputes about security, technology, the coronavirus pandemic and human rights. At the same time, Beijing has stepped up military flights into Taiwanese airspace in what it calls a warning to the administration of President Tsai Ing-wen, further bolstering bipartisan political support for Taiwan in the US. (AP)