BEIJING, Dec. 8 --China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposed to the US’s recent announcement that it will sell military aircraft parts and related equipment worth$428 million to Taiwan, and has lodged solemn representations with the US side, said Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of National Defense, in a written statement on Thursday.

The defense spokesperson said that the US’s move has blatantly ignored China's solemn position and once again grossly interfered in China's internal affairs. It has gravely violated the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, severely jeopardized China's sovereignty and security interests, and seriously undermined the relations between the two countries and two militaries as well as peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.

The spokesperson pointed out that in recent years, while making serious commitments to China on the Taiwan question, the US has hollowed out the one-China principle, continued arms sales to Taiwan, kept introducing negative bills related to Taiwan, and sent senior officials to visit Taiwan, further aggravating tensions across the Taiwan Straits. The US breaks its promises while its words still ring in the ears. Such self-contradictory move fully reveals its hypocrisy of saying one thing but doing another, and seriously damages its political credibility and international reputation.

The spokesperson added that the Taiwan question is at the very core of China's core interests, the bedrock of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations. “Taiwan independence” is thoroughly incompatible with the peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits. Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people and China's internal affairs.

We urge the US to respect China's core interests and major concerns. If the US repeatedly reneges on its promises, persists in its willful actions, and connives and supports "Taiwan independence", it will inevitably escalate tensions across the Taiwan Straits and eventually draw fire against the US itself. The Chinese People's Liberation Army will take all necessary measures to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolutely defeat any form of external interference and separatist attempts for "Taiwan independence", stressed the defense spokesperson at the end of the written statement.