China recently warned that the U.S. has crossed a red line with its assistance and support of Taiwan, saying that a “storm of lethal consequences” is brewing.
The Global Times, a state-run communist newspaper in China, published an op-ed on Thursday criticizing the recent $80 million military financing program the U.S. announced for Taiwan and said: “With the increasing number and intensity of its intervention methods, the brewing and imminent storm of lethal consequences for Taiwan cannot be ignored.”
“China’s strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition are obvious, but China’s response to the continuous provocations by the US on the Taiwan question will not be limited to mere statements,” the Global Times added.
The remarks comes shortly after the Associated Press reported that U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration approved a military transfer of $80 million to Taiwan under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program.
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Notifying Congress, the U.S. State Department said the transfer will “be used to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities through joint and combined defense capability and enhanced maritime domain awareness and maritime security capability,” AP reported.
According to AP, the FMF is usually used for sovereign states, and China has continued to claim Taiwan as its own territory, while the U.S. disagrees and says Taiwan is an independent nation.
In addition to the Global Times, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin criticized the U.S. military transfer to Taiwan on Thursday.
“The US decision to provide weapons to China’s Taiwan region under the so-called Foreign Military Financing used for sovereign states seriously violates the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US joint communiqués, especially the August 17 Communiqué of 1982,” Wang said.
“This move seriously violates international law and basic norms governing international relations, undermines China’s sovereignty and security interests, harms peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and sends gravely wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces. China deplores and firmly opposes them.
“There is but one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. The Taiwan question is entirely China’s internal affair that brooks no foreign interference.”
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry via email and the U.S. State Department via its website for comment.
Despite criticism from China, a poll commissioned by Newsweek in April found that 56 percent of Americans saying that they would approve of U.S. military intervention if China invaded Taiwan.