China-US Relations: Reactions to US arms sale to Taiwan

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And earlier, CGTN's Wang Hui also discussed the issue with an expert and a former diplomat.

The U.S. State Department approves the sale of Abrams tanks and Stinger missiles to Taiwan about 2.2 billion US dollars worth of weapons.

China's Foreign Ministry says Beijing firmly opposes this, and urges the US to immediately revoke the plan, thus stopping American military contact with Taiwan.

One expert explained the Trump administration's motivation behind this move.

WU SHICUN PRESIDENT, NATL. INSTITUTE FOR SOUTH CHINA SEA STUDIES "Since Donald Trump took office, he's been using Taiwan as a card. Taiwan is only one of the tools used by Trump to put extreme pressure on China. As the US is treating China as a rival, the Taiwan issue will be used more often."

Former foreign secretary of Pakistan, Riaz Hussain Khokhar believes it's a serious problem not only for the two countries' bilateral ties, but also for regional security.

Friction continues between China and the US also in other areas, but Wu says the Taiwan issue is fundamentally important.

WU SHICUN PRESIDENT, NATL. INSTITUTE FOR SOUTH CHINA SEA STUDIES "This is a red line. The Taiwan issue is different from the trade war. Taiwan is within China's core interest and is a red line that you shouldn't cross. China will definitely react."

Khokhar says as the world's two major countries, healthy relations between China and the US will benefit the whole world.

Wang Hui, CGTN, BEIJING.