Beijing urges US to cut military ties with Taiwan after defence chief Lloyd Austin’s remarks

Foreign ministry says Beijing has always firmly opposed US arms sales to the island ‘which seriously infringe on China’s sovereignty’

Lloyd Austin said the US would make available ‘defence articles and services’ needed to defend against ‘the Chinese threat’

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US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin called China’s security pact with Solomon Islands “a concerning precedent for the wider Pacific island region”. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 9:58pm, 2 Jun 2022Updated: 10:31pm, 2 Jun 2022

China has hit out at remarks by the US defence chief suggesting the United States is willing to expand arms sales and military training to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own.

US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin told Nikkei Asia that “the United States will make available to Taiwan defence articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defence capability commensurate with the Chinese threat”.

Austin made the remarks in an interview with the news outlet published on Wednesday, ahead of a trip to Asia next week.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian urged the US to abide by the one-China principle. Photo: AP

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on Thursday that Beijing had always firmly opposed US arms sales to Taiwan, “which seriously infringe on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and seriously interfere in China’s internal affairs”.

He again urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques, to stop selling arms to Taiwan and to end military ties with the island.

Tensions have been rising across the Taiwan Strait, and it remains a potential military flashpoint. US President Joe Biden’s comment last week that the US would be willing to defend Taiwan in the event of a mainland Chinese attack has also thrown doubt on Washington’s long-standing policy of “strategic ambiguity” on the issue.

In the written interview with Nikkei Asia, Austin said Taiwan and Ukraine were “two highly different scenarios” when asked if the US would not rule out sending forces in the event of a Taiwan Strait contingency. The US has said it would not send troops to fight Russian forces in Ukraine.

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