The Chinese Ministry of Defense has once again expressed this Friday its “firm opposition” to the sale of weapons by the United States to Taiwan and has urged Washington to stop arming the region with “weapons of any type”, alleging which is an insurmountable “red line” in their bilateral relations. The Defense spokesperson has defended that the sale of American weapons to Taiwan “has seriously violated the ‘one China principle’ and the China-United States joint communiqués,” according to statements in response to the media collected by the Xinhua agency. “The measure has seriously undermined China’s sovereignty and security, and represents a serious threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” added the Chinese Defense representative, reiterating that “China is strongly dissatisfied” with the aid granted to Taiwan by the US Department of Defense. In this regard, the ministerial spokesperson has warned that “the Taiwan issue is the first red line that should not be crossed in China-United States relations” and has stressed that “supporting the separatist forces inclined towards the independence of Taiwan “It will not only aggravate tensions in the region, but will lead Taiwan into a dangerous situation and ultimately harm the United States itself.” The president of the United States, Joe Biden, announced at the end of July 2023 a package of arms aid to Taiwan worth up to 345 million dollars (about 313 million euros), within the framework of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961. , after the State Department approved a month earlier a possible arms sale to Taiwan worth 440 million dollars (about 400 million euros), a decision that China also “firmly” opposed. The most recent US concession to Taiwan came in April of this year, when the US Senate approved a multi-billion dollar aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan for a total value of about 90 billion euros. Of that total, Washington allocated 7.5 billion euros to Taiwan, embroiled in a historic territorial dispute with China that in recent months has seen a rise in tensions. All of this has as a backdrop an increase in political tensions between China and the United States over the island, which ‘de facto’ functions as an ‘independent territory’ despite the fact that Beijing claims its sovereignty; which explains why Beijing questions any type of approach from other countries to Taipei, as well as its continued criticism of agreements or visits made by senior US officials.
