China blasts US arms sale to Taiwan, President Lai’s U.S. transit
China vowed resolute countermeasures on a U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, and complained about President Lai Ching-te's transit through U.S. territory.
China vowed “resolute countermeasures” on Sunday to a recently approved U.S. arms sale to Taiwan, and complained to the U.S. for arranging for the democratically governed island’s president to transit through U.S. territory.
The U.S. State Department approved the potential sale, worth an estimated $385 million, of spare parts and support for F-16 jets and radars to Taiwan, the Pentagon said on Friday.
The sale was announced hours before Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te left on a visit to Taipei’s three diplomatic allies in the Pacific, with stops in Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam.
The sale sends “a wrong signal” to Taiwan independence forces and undermines U.S.-China relations, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said in a separate statement that it firmly opposes any official exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwan and “strongly condemns” the U.S. for arranging the transit.
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