China criticizes US arms sales to Taiwan

China on Wednesday criticized US arms sales to Taiwan as one of its top leaders vowed more efforts toward reunification, coinciding with Beijing's military maneuvers off the island's southern coast.

According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian, China will “firmly defend its national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity” and will be “vigilant” if the Donald Trump administration releases $5.3 billion (more than €5 billion) of previously frozen foreign aid, which would include $870 million (€829 billion) to Taiwan.

"The military aid provided by the US to Taiwan seriously violates the 'one China' principle, the Sino-US joint communiques and China's sovereignty and security interests, sending a seriously wrong signal to separatist forces advocating 'Taiwan independence'," the spokesperson said.

The Taiwan issue is a major sticking point between Beijing and Washington, as the US is Taipei's main arms supplier and could defend the island in the event of a conflict with mainland China.

“We urge the United States to stop arming Taiwan and undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Lin said.

Quoted by the official Xinhua news agency, Wang Huning, the “number 4” in the Communist Party hierarchy, today called for “more efforts to be made in the cause of Chinese 'reunification'”, during a working meeting on Taiwan.

"China must firmly uphold its right to dominate and take the lead in cross-Straits relations, and unswervingly advance the cause of 'reunification' of the motherland," Wang told Party cadres.

He added that China should "firmly support the island's patriotic and unified forces" and at the same time "suppress the provocative acts of those promoting 'Taiwan independence'" so as to "shape the inevitable trend of reunification."

"We should promote exchange and cooperation between the two sides of the Strait, support the arrival of Taiwanese businesspeople and entities to mainland China, and deepen integration between the two sides," he said.

China must "firmly oppose and curb external interference" and "consolidate the international community's adherence to the 'one China' principle," which regards Taiwan as an inalienable part of Chinese territory and Beijing as China's sole legitimate representative in the world.

Taiwan, where the Chinese nationalist army retreated after its defeat by communist troops in the Chinese civil war (1927-1949), has been governed autonomously ever since, although China claims sovereignty over the island, which it considers a province of its own, for whose “reunification” it does not exclude the use of force.

Taiwan ordered the mobilization of its naval, air and land forces today after China carried out military exercises off the southern coast of the island, allegedly with live fire, without prior notification.

Since the inauguration of Taiwan's current leader, William Lai, in May last year, China has stepped up its military pressure campaign against Taiwan: Taiwan's Defense Ministry recorded a total of 3,067 incursions by Chinese warplanes in 2024, 80% more than the previous year.