BEIJING - China strongly deplores and firmly opposes US military assistance and arms sales to China's Taiwan region, and has immediately lodged solemn representations with the United States, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said Sunday.

The White House on Dec. 21 announced military assistance worth 571.3 million US dollars to Taiwan. The US Department of Defense announced on the same day that the State Department has approved 295 million US dollars worth of arms sales to Taiwan.

In response, the spokesperson said the United States once again approved military assistance and arms sales to China's Taiwan region. This seriously violates the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, especially the August 17 Communique of 1982, and China's sovereignty and security interests.

The decision is a severe breach of the US leaders' commitment of not supporting "Taiwan independence," and sends a gravely wrong signal to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. "China strongly deplores and firmly opposes it and lodged solemn representations at once with the United States," the spokesperson said.

The Taiwan question is at the core of China's core interests, and the first red line that cannot be crossed in China-US relations, the spokesperson said. "To aid 'Taiwan independence' by arming Taiwan is just like playing with fire and will get the United States burned, and to use the Taiwan question to contain China is doomed to fail."

The spokesperson said that China urges the United States to immediately stop arming Taiwan and stop the dangerous moves that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

"China will take all measures necessary to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity," the spokesperson said.