Washington's help for Taiwan forces criticized

China on Friday vowed it would take all necessary measures to safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity after a report said US troops had been deployed in Taiwan to train military forces for at least a year.

The Wall Street Journal reported that about two dozen members of US special-operations and support troops are conducting training for small units of Taiwan's ground forces and the US Marines are working with local maritime forces on small-boat training.

The US should fully recognize the highly sensitive nature of the Taiwan question, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a daily news briefing.

"The one-China principle is the political foundation of Sino-US relations", Zhao said.

When the two countries officially established diplomatic relations in 1979, the US announced that it would sever its "diplomatic relations" with Taiwan, withdraw US military forces from Taiwan and terminate the Mutual Defense Treaty, the spokesman said.

The above-mentioned three principles were the premise for Beijing and Washington to establish diplomatic ties, he added.

The spokesman also said the US pledged that it would maintain cultural, commercial and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan in the Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between Washington and Beijing.

China urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and stipulations of the three Sino-US Joint Communiques, Zhao said.

The US should stop arms sales to Taiwan and cut US-Taiwan military ties so as not to seriously damage China-US relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, he added.