China urges US to stop arms sales to Taiwan

BEIJING - China's Defense Ministry has urged the United States to stop selling arms to Taiwan and take actions to safeguard Sino-US relations.

"China opposes any country's arms sale to Taiwan. The stance is resolute, consistent and clear," ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng said at a monthly briefing on Thursday.

His comments came after the US House of Representatives foreign affairs committee's recent passage of resolution No 494, which reaffirms the importance of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the House's unwavering commitment to Taiwan.

The comments also came days ahead of the arrival of some US-made Apache attack helicopters in Taiwan.

"Some Americans have recently clamored for arms sales to Taiwan, which is not in line with joint efforts by China and the United States to build a new model of relations, including a new model of military relations, between major powers," Geng said.

Geng said this year marks the 35th anniversary of the establishment of China-US diplomatic relations. US arms sales to Taiwan will "undoubtedly intervene on and undermine the good momentum" between the two countries and their militaries, Geng said.

He called on the United States to observe the one-China policy and the three China-US joint communiques, particularly the principles specified in the August 17 Communique.

Under this 1982 agreement, the United States agreed to gradually reduce its arms sales to Taiwan.

Geng urged the United States to take practical actions to safeguard the big picture of China-US relations and the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.