China reiterates opposition to US arms sales after Taiwan gets 2 F-16V fighter jets

“China’s position is clear. We remain firmly opposed to US arms sales to China’s Taiwan region,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in a written statement late Tuesday.

The two aircraft arrived Friday at Chihhang Air Base in eastern Taitung after departing from Hawaii and stopping in Guam.

The sale of the 66 F-16Vs and related equipment was approved by the US in 2019 for about $8 billion.

Guo added: “Taiwan question is China’s internal affair.”

“Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese ourselves that brooks no external interference. The US side needs to implement the important common understandings reached at the meeting between the two presidents, abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, and act prudently on the Taiwan question,” he said, when asked about US officials' belief that “the likelihood of China ‘invading’ Taiwan before 2028 is getting increasingly low.”

On the arrest of a California woman on Sunday by FBI, which accused her of spying on a son of Taiwan’s leader William Lai Ching-te at the behest of Chinese officials, Guo said: “I am not familiar with what you mentioned. China opposes vilifying China by peddling the so-called ‘Chinese spy’ narrative.”

Wanying Zhang, also known as “Heather,” 34, of Irvine, was apprehended by the FBI’s Los Angeles field office on a federal complaint charging her with acting as an unregistered agent of China.

She was detained at Los Angeles International Airport as she was attempting to leave for China.