China again raised its opposition on Thursday to the United States for its arms sales to Taiwan, a day after the first of a batch of US anti-submarine aircraft landed on the island.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China firmly opposes arms sales to Taiwan by any country. “This stance is clear-cut and consistent,” he told a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

“We urge the US to honor the One China Policy and the principles enshrined in the three Joint Communiques, stop any form of arms sale to Taiwan and stop doing things that are detrimental to China-US relations and the peaceful growth of bilateral cross-straits relations,” Hong said.

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Alan Romberg, director of the East Asia program at Stimson Center in Washington, said he has no idea what the level of US arms sales to Taiwan will be in the next round. “But in principle, I don’t think the issue will go away because the US will continue to sell arms, and Beijing will continue to object,” he told China Daily on Thursday.

Romberg believes the nature of the sales, namely the content of the arms, will matter a lot to China’s reaction.

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