Beijing, July 9: China has on Tuesday filed a strong protest against the United States over President Donald Trump’s approval of arms sale worth $2.2 billion to Taiwan, which Beijing considers its territory, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.
At a media briefing, Shuang said, “Sales of US weapons to Taiwan are a serious violation of international law and basic norms regulating international relations. This violates the ‘One-China’ policy and three joint US-Chinese communiques. This is also a serious interference in China’s domestic affairs, which damages its sovereignty and its security interests. We express protest over these actions.”
The US department of state has on Monday approved the arms sale to Taiwan worth USD 2.2 billion, the defence security cooperation agency said.
The US state department was requested to make sales of 100 M1A2T Abrams tanks, 250 MANPAD Stinger missiles along with its other related equipment to Taiwan. The request was made by the Taipei Economic and CUlture Representative Office in the United States (TECRO). The proposed plan will amount to an additional USD 224 million to Taipei.
Earlier in June, Taiwan’s defence ministry has asked for more than 1,500 Javelin, TOW anti-tank missiles, 250 shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and 108 M1A2 Abrams main battled tanks, as per an official statement. The ministry has added Taipei’s request was under process as “normal.
The “1992 consensus” was an agreement reached in 1992 between Chinese communist officials and then Kuomintang (KMT) government of Taiwan, where both sides of the Taiwan Strait would acknowledge that there is only “one China” with both sides free interpreting what “China” means.
Taiwan will never accept an offer for a talk session with China, who is determined to crush out Taiwan’s sovereignty. Taiwan also urged China to not misjudge the situation and take any of unilateral decision or action as Taiwan is already prepared in order to safeguards its sovereignty and dignity.
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