US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell talks about the likely arms upgrade for Taiwan in New York on Wednesday. Chen Weihua / China Daily

WASHINGTON / NEW YORK - China condemned the United States' Wednesday announcement that it will upgrade Taiwan's aging F-16 fighter jets, saying the potential deal will harm its "core interests" in Taiwan and damage China-US military ties.

In Beijing, Vice-Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun summoned US Ambassador Gary Locke to lodge a strong protest against the deal, according to China's Foreign Ministry. In Washington, Chinese Ambassador to the US Zhang Yesui made his case against the potential deal.

Zhang Zhijun told Locke that the question over Taiwan is a matter of China's sovereignty and is always "the most important and most sensitive core issue" in China-US relations.

The $5.8 billion package includes retrofitting 145 of Taiwan's F-16A/B fighter jets with advanced radars and weaponry. If the deal goes through, and it likely will, it amounts to more than $12 billion in weaponry to Taiwan from the US in only two years.

According to Reuters, Taiwan's "defense ministry" said in a statement that it would continue to press for 66 newer F-16s to replace its old fighter jets that are more than 30 years old.

China sees Taiwan as a renegade province and calls any US arms sales to the self-ruled island a major hindrance to Sino-US ties.

In his protest against the deal, Zhang said the new arms sale violates three historic Sino-US joint communiques, specifically the August 17 Communique.

China has interpreted the August 17 Communique as a promise from the US that it will not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan.

"The wrongdoing by the US side will inevitably undermine bilateral relations as well as exchanges and cooperation in military and security areas," Zhang said.

He urged the US side to stop arms sales to Taiwan, halt military relations with Taiwan and work with China to stabilize Sino-US relations. US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, in a briefing with reporters about the arms deal in New York, said that "Over the decades the US has made unwavering commitment to the peace and stability across the Straits and we will continue that. That's strong and resolute".

Daniel Russell, special assistant to US President Barack Obama and senior director on Asia at the White House, said at the briefing that it is a "critical strategic principle" for the US to support Taiwan's defense.

"Preserving peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits is fundamentally and profoundly in the interest of the United States and our allies and partners," he said. "That progress in dialogues and diplomacy across the Straits has been a major contributor to that stability. And the US strongly supports efforts on both sides."

US arms sales to Taiwan have long been a source of tension for both cross-Straits ties and China-US relations.

Beijing broke off military ties last January over the US' plans to sell Taiwan more than $6 billion worth of arms. "The US has been supporting the improved relationship cross the Taiwan Straits, but we should be sensitive (to the arms sales to Taiwan)," said J. Stapleton Roy, the former US ambassador to China.

But John Feffer at the Institute for Policy Studies said he expected that the upgrade will not seriously damage bilateral relations.

"The Obama administration made a decision to push for an upgrade rather than the sale of the actual planes in order to minimize friction with Beijing. This is not an easy decision for the administration to make, given the huge profit associated with arms sales and the jobs connected to the production of F-16s," he said.

China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi is currently in New York attending the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly. He is also expected to have a series of bilateral and multilateral meetings, though a Thursday meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was cancelled. No reason was given for the cancellation.

Zhang Yuwei in New York contributed to this story.

China Daily