Militancy bad—Further arms sales destabilize the Taiwan straight

Mao Ning, "Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning’s Regular Press Conference on December 8, 2022," Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 12-8-2022, https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/xwfw_665399/s2510_665401/202212/t20221208_10987235.html-- 嘉玮

China Daily: According to reports, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a press release on December 6 that the State Department had approved sales of aircraft parts and equipment to Taiwan. Taiwan’s defense department has said the sales will help its air force operations. What’s your comment?

Mao Ning: US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region are a blatant violation of the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-US joint communiqués, especially the August 17 Communiqué of 1982. The arms sales undermine China’s sovereignty and security interests, harm peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and send a wrong signal to the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces. China deplores and rejects them. We will act firmly to defend our own sovereignty and security interests.

We urge the US side to abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US joint communiqués and earnestly act on the commitment made by the US leadership of not supporting “Taiwan independence”. It should stop arms sales to and military contact with Taiwan, stop creating new factors that could lead to tensions in the Taiwan Strait, stop using Taiwan to contain China and stop moving even further down the wrong and dangerous path.