China firmly opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, says senior official

China is strongly dissatisfied and firmly opposed to U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and has lodged stern representations to the U.S. side, a senior Chinese official said Tuesday.

Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks when meeting with Igor Ivanov, president of Russian International Affairs Council and former Russian foreign minister.

Yang's comments were made in response to U.S. planned sales of weapons worth 2.22 billion U.S. dollars to Taiwan, including M1A2 Abrams tanks and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

U.S. soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, who are deployed in Latvia, take part in a training exercise with M1A2 Abrams tanks in Adazi military base, Latvia, May 7, 2015. [File Photo: VCG/Reuters/Ints Kalnins]

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory. The U.S. arms sales to Taiwan severely violate the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, undermine China's sovereignty and security interests, and severely jeopardize peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Yang said.

"Taiwan question is purely China's internal affairs and allows no outside interference," Yang said. "The will and determination of the Chinese government and people in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity is firm and unswerving."

China urges the U.S. to fully understand the damages of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, immediately correct its mistake and withdraw the planned arms sales to and sever military ties with Taiwan so as to avoid further damage to bilateral relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, Yang said.