Beijing-SANA

China reiterated its strong opposition to the United States providing weapons to Taiwan, stressing that this is very wrong and dangerous, calling on Washington to stop military contacts with Taiwan and stop arming the island.

"The U.S. provision of weapons to Taiwan severely violates the three China-U.S. joint statements, especially the Aug. 17 statement, represents interference in China's internal affairs, harms Beijing's sovereignty and security interests, and undermines cross-strait peace and stability," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning was quoted by Xinhua as saying at a press conference yesterday, in response to media reports that the U.S. government has begun implementing its plan to send weapons to Taiwan.

"This is very wrong and dangerous, and China firmly condemns and rejects this matter, and has lodged strong official protests to the U.S. side," Mao said.

"China calls on the United States to abide by the one-China principle and the three joint statements, to stop military contacts with Taiwan and stop arming it, not to create factors conducive to the escalation of tensions across the Taiwan Strait, to stop collusion and to support the attempts of separatist forces seeking so-called 'Taiwan independence' by force," Mao said.

"China will closely follow the developments of the situation and firmly safeguard the country's sovereignty, security, unity and territorial integrity," Mao said.

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