China Warns U.S. It’s ‘Playing With Fire’ on Taiwan Arms Sales

(Bloomberg) -- China’s foreign ministry warned the U.S. that it was “playing with fire” by going through with a potential $2 billion weapons sales to Taiwan and vowed to sanction involved American companies.

The U.S. is in “total disregard" of China, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a briefing in Budapest Friday. “Don’t send a wrong signal to separatist forces in Taiwan, don’t repeat mistakes and don’t play with fire on Taiwan-related issues," he said.

Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said earlier that China would place sanctions on U.S. companies involved in the sales, according to a separate statement on the ministry’s website in response.

The U.S. State Department approved earlier this week the possible sale of arms to Taiwan, an island that Beijing claims as part of its territory. The sale would include M1A2T Abrams tanks, stinger missiles and related equipment for an estimated cost of about $2.2 billion, according to Pentagon statements. Prime contractors to include General Dynamics, BAE and Oshkosh.

The U.S. military support for Taiwan, which has continued despite Washington’s decision to cut ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing 40 years ago, has long been one of the biggest ticking points between the two countries. The island has been governed separately by the former government of China after it lost a civil war in 1949 and provides a vital link in a chain of American security partnerships in the Western Pacific.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Veronika Gulyas in Budapest at vgulyas@bloomberg.net;Gao Yuan in Beijing at ygao199@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Scott at bscott66@bloomberg.net, Gregory Turk

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With assistance from Bloomberg