China warns US against Taiwan arms sales ahead of Trump-Xi summit

BEIJING: China on Wednesday reiterated its strong opposition to United States arms sales to Taiwan ahead of a summit between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing later this week.

The issue of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory, is expected to feature prominently during the two days of talks between Trump and Xi.

The United States, despite having no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, is legally bound to provide the island with means to defend itself. In December, the Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan, the largest such deal to date.

Speaking in Beijing, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhang Han said Taiwan was an internal matter for China and warned Washington against expanding military cooperation with Taipei.

“We firmly oppose the United States engaging in any form of military ties with China’s Taiwan region, and firmly oppose the United States selling weapons to China’s Taiwan region,” Zhang said.

She added that Taiwan remained “the core of China’s core interests” and urged Washington to honour commitments made under the longstanding “One China” policy.

Under the policy, Washington officially takes no position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, while acknowledging — but not endorsing — Beijing’s claim that the island is part of China.

Trump’s visit comes days after Taiwan’s opposition-controlled parliament approved only two-thirds of a proposed $40 billion special defence budget sought by President Lai Ching-te. The approved spending included funding for US arms purchases, but reduced allocations for domestic defence programmes such as drone development.

A senior US official said Washington was disappointed that Taiwan’s defence spending fell short of expectations.

A senior Taiwan security official told Reuters that Taipei feared Beijing could use the reduced budget to influence Trump during the summit.

According to the official, China may argue that Taiwan’s parliament itself opposed large-scale weapons purchases and use that position to persuade Trump to scale back US military support for the island.

Reuters reported in March that another arms package worth around $14 billion could be approved after Trump’s return from China, though its current status remains unclear.

On Tuesday, Lai told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit that Taiwan was a “sovereign, independent nation” and would not bow to pressure from Beijing.

Rejecting those remarks, Zhang said Taiwan had never been, and would never become, a country.

“Our resolve to oppose Taiwan independence is as firm as a rock, and our capability to crush Taiwan independence is unbreakable,” she said.

China has never ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, although Beijing says it still prefers what it calls “peaceful reunification”.