US urged to cease arm sales to Taiwan

A mainland spokeswoman on Wednesday urged the United States to cease arms sales to Taiwan after the US approved $600 million in a new round of potential arms sales to the island.

The US State Department notified Congress on Tuesday of plans for selling four armed MQ-9 Reaper drones to Taiwan, claiming it will help maintain political stability and the military balance in the region.

The move came days after the administration approved arms sales to Taiwan twice last month, a $2.37 billion sale of Harpoon missile systems and a sale of three other weapons systems valued at $1.8 billion respectively.

Zhu Fenglian, a spokeswoman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said China is firmly opposed to US arms sales to the island.

She urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US Joint Communiques, as well as the Aug 17 communique, and stop its erroneous arms sales to the island.

The US arms sales to Taiwan will only seriously harm peace across the Taiwan Straits and send a wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" forces, Zhu said.

The administration of the Democratic Progressive Party, the ruling party of the island, who seeks for "independence" by force, will only push the Taiwan people toward disaster, she said.