By Dave DeCamp / Antiwar.com
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Beijing had stopped arms control talks with the US over continued US arms sales to Taiwan and other steps that go against China’s “core interests.”
The US and China held consultations on arms control back in November 2023. A reporter asked Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian about comments from US officials suggesting China declined to hold another round.
“Over the past weeks and months, despite China’s firm opposition and repeated protest, the US has continued to sell arms to Taiwan and done things that severely undermine China’s core interests and the mutual trust between China and the US. This has seriously compromised the political atmosphere for continuing the arms control consultations,” Lin said.
“Consequently, the Chinese side has decided to hold off discussion with the US on a new round of consultations on arms control and non-proliferation. The responsibility fully lies with the US,” the spokesman added.
Lin said China stands ready for arms control talks “in line with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, but the US must respect China’s core interests and create necessary conditions for dialogue and exchange.”
The US has stepped up military and diplomatic support for Taiwan in recent years, ignoring frequent warnings from Chinese officials, including President Xi Jinping, that the issue is the “first red line” in US-China relations that must not be crossed.
Since the November 2023 arms control talks, the US has approved several new arms sales for Taiwan, including one last month worth $360 million for hundreds of armed drones and related missile equipment. President Biden also signed a $95 billion foreign military aid bill that included $8 billion for military aid for Taiwan and other spending in the Indo-Pacific region to prepare for war with China.
The US has always sold weapons to Taiwan since severing diplomatic relations in 1979 but just began providing weapons using US-taxpayer-funded military aid last year, a step the Chinese military warned would be “absolutely intolerable.”
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Dave DeCamp
Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.
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