China Warns Washington as US Reportedly Mulls Sending Warship to Taiwan Strait
SputnikNews.com
05.06.2018
Even though it adopted the “One China” policy in 1979, the US maintains close trade ties with the island and remains its top supplier of weapons.
China has reacted to the media report, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying urging the US to show maximum restraint on the Taiwan issue to avoid harming bilateral relations and destabilizing the situation in the region.
“We have repeatedly emphasized that the Taiwan issue is the most important and sensitive core issue in the China-US relationship,” Hua told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday.
Washington is considering sending a warship to sail through the strategic Taiwan Strait, in what could be seen by Taiwan as a fresh sign of US support in wake of a series of Chinese naval exercises around the island, which Beijing claims as part of its territory, Reuters reported.
The agency quoted unnamed US officials as saying that Washington had earlier been considering sending an aircraft carrier sailing to sail through the Taiwan Strait, but later thought better of it for fear of outraging China.
Since taking office, President Trump has approved the sale of $1.4 billion worth of arms to Taipei. In March, he signed new rules allowing senior US officials to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese counterparts and vice versa.
Although well-armed with mostly US-made weapons, Taiwan has been asking for more advanced equipment from the US, which is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
The Rest…HERE
