(MENAFN) China issued a sharp rebuke Friday against the Trump administration's inaugural arms package to Taiwan, condemning the transaction as a sovereignty violation and breach of the one-China principle.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing that the sale "grossly violates one-China principle, three China-US communiques."

"China deplores and opposes this," he added.

The U.S. Defense Security Cooperation Agency announced late Thursday that the State Department had greenlit a potential foreign military sale to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States. The package, valued at an estimated $330 million, includes non-standard spare and repair parts and related equipment for Taiwan's F-16 and C-130 aircraft.

The agency stated the proposed sale "will improve the recipient's capability to meet current and future threats by maintaining the operational readiness."

According to the announcement, the sale encompasses non-standard components, spare and repair parts, consumables, accessories, and repair-and-return support for F-16 and C-130 military planes, along with Indigenous Defense Fighter aircraft. Engineering, technical, and logistics support from the U.S. government and contractors is also included.

The transaction marks the first such sale during U.S. President Donald Trump's second term, following his January return to office.

Arms sale after Trump-Xi summit
Lin condemned the decision, declaring it "infringes upon sovereignty of China and sends wrong signal." "Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests and is red line that cannot be crossed in the China-US relations," he said, urging Washington to "stop aiding separatist forces and take concrete in the interests China-US relations."

"China will do what is necessary to defend China's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," he added.

The arms package emerged two weeks after Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Trump later stated Taiwan "did not come up for discussion" with Xi.

Separately, China's first electromagnetic catapult-equipped Type 076 amphibious assault ship commenced its maiden sea trials Friday, state media reported. The inaugural hull, Sichuan, departed from Hudong-Zhonghua Shipyard in Shanghai.

According to a Beijing-based news outlet, the next-generation assault ship possesses a "full-load displacement of over 40,000 tons."

"It features a dual-island superstructure and a full-length flight deck ... adopts electromagnetic catapult and arrestment technologies, and can carry fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters, amphibious equipment and other assets," the outlet said.

The simultaneous warship launch underscores Beijing's military modernization efforts as diplomatic tensions escalate over Taiwan, with the electromagnetic catapult technology—previously exclusive to American supercarriers—signaling China's advancing naval capabilities in the strategically critical Taiwan Strait region.

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