China has urged the United States to stop arming Taiwan and refrain from undermining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, Xinhua news agency reported.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian made the statement at a regular briefing when asked to comment on reports that the Trump administration had unfrozen $5.3 billion in foreign aid, including $870 million earmarked for security programs in Taiwan.
Lin said China was seriously concerned by such reports and stressed that Beijing has always resolutely opposed the provision of military aid by the United States to the "China region" Taiwan, because such behavior seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, significantly infringes on China's sovereignty and security interests, and sends a very wrong signal to the separatist forces for "Taiwan independence".
"China will closely monitor the development of the situation and firmly safeguard national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," Lin said.
Beijing has stepped up its military and political pressure on the democratically governed island, which it considers its territory.
However, both China and Taiwan are facing pressure from the new administration of US President Donald Trump, which has imposed tariffs on China and threatened to impose similar measures on imported semiconductors, a sector in which Taiwan dominates.
The defeated government of the Republic of China fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communist forces, which established the People's Republic of China in Beijing.