The US Department of State has given the green light for the sale of 30mm ammunition and related equipment, as well as spare parts for vehicles, small arms, combat weapons systems, and logistical support items.
“The United States ignores China’s major concerns, grossly interferes in China’s internal affairs, and deliberately escalates tension in the Taiwan Strait,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Colonel Tan Kefei said.
China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, which must be conquered by force if necessary, and Tan said “firm complaints” have been made to the United States.
“This is tantamount to accelerating Taiwan’s transformation into a ‘tindder keg’ and pushing the Taiwanese people into the abyss of disaster,” he said in a statement posted on the department’s website.
Using force to seek independence is wishful thinking and doomed to failure, the spokesperson added using standard Chinese terminology, adding that the People’s Liberation Army is always ready and would maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The United States maintains a “one China” policy, whereby it does not recognize Taiwan’s formal independence and does not have a formal diplomatic relationship with the island in deference to Beijing. But US law requires a credible defense for Taipei and that Washington treat all threats to the island as matters of “serious concern.”
China regularly sends warships and warplanes across the strait line as well as into Taiwan’s air identification zone in an attempt to intimidate its 23 million people and erode its military capabilities.
On Wednesday, 26 army planes and four Chinese navy ships were detected in the vicinity of the island, according to the Taiwanese Defense Ministry, adding that the situation is being controlled with planes, ships and land-based missile systems.
The island was separated from the Chinese mainland in a civil war in 1949.
FUENTE: Associated Press
