China Urges US to Stop Arms Sales to Taiwan | Farsnews Agency

(FNA)- China stands firmly against US arms sales to Taiwan region and any forms of official exchanges or military contact between Washington and the island.

Zhu Fenglian, Spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, made the remark at a press conference on Wednesday while responding to a question on a recent purchasing contract of a field information and communication system between the United States and Taiwan region, which was a follow-up to the US arms sale plan to the Taiwan region in December 2020, CGTN reported.

Zhu said the Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authority has repeatedly purchased arms from the US with taxpayers' money and attempts to "seek independent by force".

"Such attempts will not succeed and will only harm peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the interests of Taiwan residents," she added.

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has recently warned against separatist inclinations and foreign meddling in Taiwan, which Beijing considers to be under its sovereignty.

Tensions over Taiwan have been ramping up over the past few years amid new arms sales by Washington and visits of semi-official American delegations, which Beijing sees as undermining its claims to the island. China has ramped up military activities around Taiwan, stating that it was acting to balance similar moves by the US.

Lately, there was speculation in Western media that Beijing may attempt to take over the island by force amid the security crisis in Europe caused by Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Beijing refused to condemn Moscow for its offensive and accused the US and NATO of paving the way for hostilities by ignoring Russian national security concerns. Moscow announced its attack was necessary to curb threats emanating from Ukraine due to NATO’s creeping expansion into Ukraine.