By Berk Kutay Gokmen
ISTANBUL (AA) – China on Monday lodged a strong protest with the US over its arms sales to Taiwan, urging Washington to stop arming Taipei.
"We are strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to this and have lodged solemn representations with the US side," China’s Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said.
Last week, the US authorized the sale of spare parts for F-16 and C-130 aircraft to Taiwan, valued at $330 million, marking the first such transaction since US President Donald Trump assumed office in January.
Zhang noted that the arms sales seriously violate the one-China principle and grossly interfere in internal affairs, undermining China's sovereignty and security interests, according to state-run Xinhua news.
"We urge the US side to immediately stop its wrongful actions of arming Taiwan so as to avoid harming the development of the relations between the two countries and the two militaries," he added.
He also accused Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party authorities of “squandering the hard-earned money of people in Taiwan to purchase weapons,” warning that “any attempt to seek independence by relying on external forces or resist reunification with arms is destined to fail.”
The statement came after Pentagon Chief Pete Hegseth and Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun met in Malaysia last month and agreed to establish military-to-military channels to deconflict and de-escalate any bilateral issues.