US turning Taiwan into 'powder keg', China warns

The Chinese mainland always opposes US arms sales to the Taiwan region as it seriously violates the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communique, Mao Ning said on Friday, CTGN reported. 

Recently, the US and Taiwan region have been increasing their military ties, and a group of 25 US arms dealers visited Taiwan to hold a "defense forum" with the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, once again demonstrating that the US is turning Taiwan into a "powder keg" and the victims are the compatriots in Taiwan, Mao said.

According to RT, Washington has authorized a long list of weapon deals with Taiwan in recent years, but several have yet to come to fruition, leaving a backlog of sales worth $19 billion.

Some US lawmakers have called for the transfers to be accelerated, with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy stressing the need to do so during a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen last month.

China, which considers Taiwan to be part of its sovereign territory, went on to urge the US to “stop arms sales to and military contact with” the island, warning such moves will “cause tensions in the Taiwan Strait” and trigger a reaction from Beijing.

“The Chinese side will take strong and resolute measures to firmly defend our sovereignty and security interests,” Mao continued. “Any external forces that interfere in China’s internal affairs and undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait shall bear the consequences and pay for their erroneous acts.”

MNA/PR