DPRK slams US arms aid to Taiwan as 'dangerous' provocation

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Friday criticized the United States' weapons aid package to Taiwan, its state media reported, accusing Washington of driving tensions in East Asia to "another ignition point of war".

Maeng Yong-rim, director-general of the Department of Chinese Affairs at the DPRK's Foreign Ministry, said in a statement that Washington's "weapons aid package" to Taiwan, worth $345 million, will further intensify military tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, Korean Central News Agency reported.

"This constitutes a flagrant violation of the one-China principle, which the US committed itself before the Chinese government and people, and of the spirit of the three China-US joint communiques. It is also an interference in the internal affairs of China and a grave encroachment on China's sovereignty and security," the statement said.

From the US arms sale, Taiwan separatist forces have gotten "nothing but to turn its island into a huge US old weapon exhibition and a heap of scrap iron", it said.

On July 28, the White House announced the military aid package for Taiwan, which is the first major package by US President Joe Biden's administration.

Maeng denounced the US hegemony, saying the Biden administration is still clinging to the Taiwan question, while talking about improving relations with China.

"The Asia-Pacific region, including the Korean Peninsula and the Taiwan Strait, is neither a theater of the US' military activity nor a test site of war," the statement said, adding that the US will have to "pay a high price" for "provoking the core interest of China".

China has also slammed the US for the plan to provide military assistance to Taiwan.

On Tuesday, Tan Kefei, spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, said such military assistance to Taiwan flagrantly interferes in China's domestic affairs, severely undermines China's sovereignty and security interests, and seriously jeopardizes peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

"We firmly oppose the act and have lodged stern representations with the US side," he said, adding that the Taiwan question concerns China's core interests and is a red line that must not be crossed in Sino-US relations.

Mao Ning, spokeswoman for China's Foreign Ministry, on Wednesday urged the US to stop enhancing military contact with Taiwan or arming it by any means or under whatever pretext, to stop creating factors that could heighten tensions in the Taiwan Strait, and stop conniving at and supporting the separatists' attempt to seek "Taiwan independence" by force.

"No one should underestimate the determination, resolve and capability of the Chinese people in safeguarding our sovereignty and territorial integrity," she said.

Xinhua contributed to this story.