US military contacts, sales of arms to Taiwan decried

Beijing is firmly opposed to military contacts between the United States and Taiwan as well as US arms sales to the island, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Thursday, noting that any attempts to contain the Chinese mainland by arming Taiwan are doomed to fail.

On Nov 15, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which is under the US Congress, released its latest annual report.

It suggested assessing the ways to strengthen Taiwan's military capabilities and enhancing US deterrence capabilities with regard to Taiwan.

China firmly opposes US-Taiwan military ties and US arms sales to the island, said Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense.

Wu also urged the US to earnestly implement the commitments it made during the top leaders' talks in Indonesia and to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques so as not to further undermine the common interests of both sides.

In the meeting between President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in Indonesia, Biden said that the US does not support "Taiwan independence", "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan", and it has no intention of having a conflict with China.

On Tuesday, State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe also urged the US to keep its word and honor its commitments, truly implement the consensuses reached by the two presidents, and adopt a rational and pragmatic China policy, so as to remove the causes of crisis.

Wu also stressed that Taiwan is a "sacred and inalienable part" of Chinese territory.

"Any move to strengthen US-Taiwan military contacts is a wrong act that interferes in China's internal affairs and violates US' commitments," he said. "Any attempt to contain the Chinese mainland by arming Taiwan is nothing but an unrealistic dream, and it is doomed to be on a collision course with a great wall of steel forged by the People's Liberation Army."

The spokesman also responded to a video showing an exchange by radio telephone between the Chinese guided-missile destroyer CNS Xiamen and a Taiwan warship when they met near the island.

In the video, which has been widely circulated on Chinese social media, the officer on the destroyer told the Taiwan warship that there was no"24 nautical mile line".

Wu said any "line" unilaterally drawn by Taiwan is illegal and invalid, and it cannot change the fact that Taiwan belongs to China or prevent the PLA from safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

He warned Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities that the PLA will fight decisively if anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China.