Beijing [China], March 14 : Strongly criticising the United States' budget proposal to allocate USD 100 million in defence aid to Taiwan for the financial year 2025, China has vowed to take resolute measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, as reported by Global Times.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Tuesday slammed the US' attempt to "outcompete China."
According to the Global Times, US President Joe Biden on Monday proposed a USD 7.26 trillion budget plan for FY 2025, a 4.7 per cent surge year on year. It includes a defence budget request of USD 849.8 billion, targeting "persistent threats" from countries Russia, North Korea and Iran and "pacing challenges" from China in "Indo-Pacific" region.
Of particular concern to China is the inclusion of USD 100 million specifically designated for Taiwan's military assistance through the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program, typically reserved for sovereign nations.
The US State Department described the USD 100 million in funding for Taiwan as a "historic investment in Taiwan's security, including a new bilateral Foreign Military Financing (FMF) request," to "strengthen deterrence and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits," the media reported.
At a press briefing on Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin slammed the US attempt to "outcompete China."
Wenbin has denounced the US move as indicative of a harmful competition that could escalate tensions between China and the US.
Wang emphasized that China firmly opposes military contacts between US and Taiwan authorities and arming Taiwan. "We urge the US side to abide by the one-China principle and stop interfering in China's internal affairs. China will take resolve measures to firmly safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity."
"We hope that the US will correct its wrong perception of China, abandon its zero-sum mentality, and promote the sound, stable and sustainable development of China-US relations," Wang further added.
Chinese analysts said the US move hinted at more political than military implications.
According to Xin Qiang, director of the Taiwan studies center at Fudan University, the pernicious nature of the US move is that the MFM is always offered to sovereign nations, which means the US is treating Taiwan as a "state entity," even a paramilitary ally. And that violated the one-China principle.
Notably, China (People's Republic of China) considers the self-ruled territory of Taiwan as part of its territory and claims there is only "one China.".
China has increased military activities around Taiwan in recent years, including near-daily incursions into the country's air defence identification zone (ADIZ) and sending military ships near its maritime borders, according to CNN.
Especially after former US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taipei in 2022, China has ramped up its flow of military jets over the self-ruled territory.
Over time, Beijing has repeatedly said that Taiwan "would be reunified" with China.
In this year's New Year Address, Chinese President Xi Jinping said, "China will surely be reunified, and all Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be bound by a common sense of purpose."
Amid concerns over a possible Chinese invasion of Taiwan, US President Joe Biden said that Washington would "intervene militarily" if Beijing attempted to take Taipei by force, CNN reported.
But it is pertinent to note that under the "One China" policy, the US also acknowledges China's position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognized Beijing's claim to the self-governing island of 23 million.
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