Beijing warns US of ‘consequences’ if it sells F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan

China has demanded that US cancel all military sales to Taiwan, otherwise it won’t hesitate to retaliate. The warning came amid the ongoing trade war and the row over the massive Hong Kong protests.

The White House had greenlighted the sale of 66 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan over the weekend. This will be the second major arms deal with Taipei approved by Washington since July, when the US authorized the sale of more than 100 M1A2T Abrams tanks, as well as surface-to-air missiles.

Beijing, which considers Taiwan its territory, blasted the move and warned that it will retaliate against what it says violates the decades-old ‘One-China policy.’

“The US has to bear all the consequences triggered by the sales,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang, told reporters on Monday.

“China will take necessary measures to defend its self-interest based on the development of the situation.”

Geng did not specify the exact steps Beijing would take. He had previously said that the country would cut ties with all US companies selling weapons to Taiwan and ban them from doing business in China.

US-Chinese relations have deteriorated amid the ongoing trade war and the large-scale anti-government protests in Hong Kong, China’s self-governing territory. Some leading American politicians have openly backed the protest rallies. China responded by saying that such support serves as “powerful evidence of the country’s involvement” in inciting riots in Hong Kong.

Last week, China rejected the US Navy’s request for two of its ships to dock at the port of Hong Kong. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, had offered Chinese leader Xi Jinping a “personal meeting” to discuss how to “quickly and humanely solve the Hong Kong problem.”

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