China warns of "grave consequences" if US proceeds with arms sales to Taiwan

Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang warned that the United States should recognise the severe repercussions of supplying weapons to Taiwan, following reports of a potential $2 billion US arms deal with the island.

Zhang warned that the Taiwan issue stands as the most crucial of China’s core interests, describing it as the primary "red line" in China-US relations that must not be crossed, Caliber.Az reports per foreign media.

He added, “China urges the United States to truly understand the serious consequences of arming Taiwan and the dangers it brings upon itself.” Washington, he stated, “should not continue down the wrong path.”

Zhang went further, accusing the US of exploiting Taiwan to benefit its own military-industrial complex. “The US is sucking the blood of the Taiwanese people to fatten its own defence industry,” he said.

Earlier, the US Defence Security Cooperation Agency reported that the State Department had approved a prospective $2 billion sale of NASAMS air defence systems and radar systems to Taiwan.

Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949, following the retreat of Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang forces after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Beijing, however, regards Taiwan as a province of the People’s Republic of China.

Notably, the US severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, establishing relations with the People’s Republic of China instead. Although Washington acknowledges the “One China” policy, it has maintained informal relations with Taiwan’s government. The United States remains Taiwan’s primary supplier of weaponry, with China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs estimating that American arms sales to Taiwan have exceeded $70 billion over recent years.

Responding to the recent passage of foreign warships through the Taiwan Strait, Zhang said, "China firmly opposes certain countries using so-called freedom of navigation as a pretext to provoke and undermine its sovereignty and security." He added that the Chinese military "is always prepared to counter any threats and provocations and to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Meanwhile, China’s aircraft carriers Liaoning and Shandong conducted their first joint dual-carrier formation exercises on October 31 in the disputed South China Sea. This maritime exercise is "a combat-scenario training aimed at further enhancing the carrier group’s systematic combat capabilities," Zhang confirmed.

By Aghakazim Guliyev