China warns of ‘countermeasures’ over US arms sales to Taiwan – POLITICO

Beijing has warned the United States it will take “countermeasures” after the Biden administration approved more than $1 billion in arms sales to Taiwan.

“China will resolutely take legitimate and necessary countermeasures,” Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, said in a tweet on Saturday.

He called on Washington to “immediately revoke” the sales.

On Friday, the Biden administration formally notified the US Congress of the proposed $1.1 billion weapons package, which includes 60 anti-ship missiles and 100 air-to-air missiles.

China continues to send warships and planes to the Taiwan Strait after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the self-governing island a month ago. In response to Pelosi’s trip, Beijing launched unprecedented military exercises around Taiwan.

The Democratic chairman and the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee must approve the sale before it can be finalized.

Washington said the arms package was in line with the one-China policy outlined in the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which states the United States would not establish formal diplomatic relations with Taipei. This act also created the doctrine of “strategic ambiguity” whereby the United States remains deliberately evasive about whether it would militarily defend Taiwan against invasion.