China warns US ‘playing with fire’ by supplying weapons to Taiwan

China has warned the US that sending weapons to Taiwan is akin to “playing with fire” and risks severe consequences.

The US recently announced $571.3m (£473m) in military assistance to the island and approved $295m in arms sales.

A spokesperson for the Chinese foreign ministry said on Sunday that the move violates the “One China” principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, Global Times reported. The principle lays down that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China to be unified one day.

The decision to send more weapons is also a breach of commitments made by US leaders to not support “Taiwan independence” and sends a gravely wrong signal to “separatist forces” on the island, the state media outlet quoted the spokesperson as saying.

To aid Taiwan’s independence by arming the island is like playing with fire and will get the US burned, it said.

In any case, the outlet added, the strategy of using “the Taiwan question” to contain China is doomed to fail.

Beijing has lodged a formal protest with Washington against the arms sales. It has also urged the US to immediately stop arming Taiwan and put an end to moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

“We will take all measures necessary to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity,” the spokesperson said.

China sanctioned five Western arms manufacturers earlier this year after a previous round of American weapons sales to Taiwan.

The Joe Biden administration’s military assistance package for Taiwan, the third this year, comes alongside the sale of upgraded tactical systems and naval weaponry. Chinese strategic analysts have dismissed the significance of the new weapons for Taiwan but noted their cost and accused the US of exploiting the island to benefit its arms manufacturers.

Tensions in the Taiwan Strait remain at boiling point, with Beijing ramping up military drills near the island in October in what it described as “punishment” for president Lai Ching-te vowing to “resist annexation” or “encroachment upon our sovereignty”.’

China considers Taiwan as its own territory and president Xi Jinping has vowed to unify the island with the mainland, by force if necessary.