US plans to supply weapons to Taiwan will not lead to desired results, Liu Pengyu, spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told TASS.
He noted that China's determination to defend its sovereignty should not be underestimated.
„Separatist forces on the island, advocating „Taiwan independence“, are trying to prevent reunification with mainland China by building up their military power. They are wasting taxpayers' money on arms purchases and risk turning Taiwan into a „powder keg“. Such actions will not change the inevitable collapse of “Taiwan independence“ and will only accelerate the threat of military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. For the US, promoting “independence“ by arming Taiwan will only have the opposite effect, and attempts to contain China through Taiwan are doomed to failure“, the diplomat stressed.
This was his comment on the claim, cited in a previously published Pentagon report on the development of China's armed forces, that Beijing “expects to be able to wage and win a war against Taiwan by the end of 2027“
As Liu Pengyu noted, “The United States has publicly announced in advance a plan to sell large quantities of modern weapons to Taiwan“. “This step seriously violates the “one China“ principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques, violates China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, undermines peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and sends a deeply wrong signal to the separatist forces defending "Taiwan independence". China deeply condemns this, firmly opposes it, and immediately expresses its resolute protest to the US side, he stressed.
"No one should underestimate the strong will and great ability of the Chinese authorities and people to safeguard their sovereignty and territorial integrity," Liu Pengyu added. He noted that the United States should "immediately stop its dangerous actions against Taiwan". "China will take resolute and strict measures to safeguard its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," the spokesman stressed, adding that the Taiwan issue is a key issue for Beijing and "the first red line in Sino-US relations that must not be crossed." China's Foreign Ministry earlier said the Pentagon report deliberately distorted China's defense strategy and was being used as a tool to provoke discord in China's relations with third countries. Taiwan's Prime Minister Lai Qingde published an article in the Washington Post in late November announcing that Taipei would allocate an additional $40 billion to its defense budget. He said he planned to use the funds to purchase weapons from the United States.
Taiwan has been ruled by its own administration since 1949, when the remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) withdrew there after their defeat in the Chinese Civil War. Beijing considers Taiwan a province of the People's Republic of China. The United States severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 and established them with the People's Republic of China. While proclaiming the policy of "one China", Washington continues to maintain contacts with the Taipei administration. The United States is the main supplier of weapons to Taiwan. The current Washington administration has promised to increase the pace of deliveries of weapons and military equipment to Taiwan.