US undermines Beijing's core interest by selling arms to Taiwan: China

By Anadolu staff

China on Thursday said the US is undermining Beijing's core interest by selling arms to Taiwan, blaming Washington for no meetings between the defense chiefs of both countries in Vientiane, Laos, state-run media reported.

According to Xinhua News, a Chinese military spokesperson said that the responsibility for the absence of a meeting between the Chinese and the US defense ministers during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus lies entirely with the US side.

"United States cannot undermine China's core interests by selling arms to Taiwan on one hand while pretending that nothing happened and seeking to engage in military exchanges with China on the other," Wu Qian said.

He urged Washington to immediately correct its mistakes, earnestly respect China's core interests, and create favorable conditions for high-level military exchanges between the two sides.

On Wednesday, a media report said Chinese Defense Minister Admiral Dong Jun declined to meet US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on the sideline of ASEAN Defense Ministers Meeting in Laos.

Austin later expressed regret for no meeting and said it is a setback for the entire region.

"It's unfortunate. It affects the region because the region really wants to see us, you know, two significant players in the region, two significant powers, talk to each other. And that reassures the entire region," he said during a press briefing.

Dong and Austin met for the first time in Singapore in May on the sidelines of Shangri-La Dialogue.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid