Chinese defense ministry slams U.S. arms sales to Taiwan region

China's Ministry of National Defense on Monday condemned the recently announced $330-million U.S. arms sale to the Taiwan region, vowing to take all necessary measures to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang stated that the arms sales have severely violated the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, grossly interfered in China's internal affairs, and undermined China's sovereignty and security interests, sending wrong signals to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

"China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes such acts, and has lodged strong protests with the U.S. side," he said.

Zhang emphasized that using force to support "Taiwan independence" will only backfire, and trying to use Taiwan to contain China will not succeed. He urged the U.S. to immediately stop its egregious act of arming Taiwan and avoid harming the development of China-U.S. relations and their militaries.