China condemns U.S. arms sales to Taiwan

BEIJING, Dec. 22 (Xinhua) -- Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, strongly condemned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan on Sunday, urging the United States to immediately halt arming Taiwan.

Zhu made the remarks in response to a media query about the U.S. recent announcement of a new round of military assistance and arms sales to China's Taiwan region.

"We firmly oppose the U.S. providing weapons to China's Taiwan region in any form, and our stance is consistent and clear," Zhu said.

She added that the U.S. move severely violates the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, especially the August 17 Communique of 1982, while sending a wrong signal to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

Separatist activities and external interference are the biggest threats to peace across the Taiwan Strait, Zhu said.

She urged the U.S. to immediately stop arming Taiwan and warned Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authority that seeking independence by relying on the United States and through military means only leads to a dead end.