US defense policy act fuels Taiwan tensions

China criticized the latest United States National Defense Authorization Act on Thursday, saying it blatantly interferes in China's internal affairs and sends a seriously wrong signal to "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.

Zhang Xiaogang, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks at a news conference in response to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, which was signed last week by US President Donald Trump.

The act includes multiple provisions related to China and allocates about $1 billion for the so-called "Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative," aimed at enhancing arms sales to China's Taiwan region.

Zhang said the law constitutes blatant interference in China's internal affairs and gravely undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

He accused the US of reneging on its commitments by intensifying arms sales to Taiwan, noting that such actions will only embolden "Taiwan independence" separatist forces and push the Taiwan Strait closer to danger and war.

Zhang also criticized Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party authorities for "sacrificing the interests of the Taiwan people" and allowing the US to "drain Taiwan dry" in pursuit of its own strategic goals.

"Attempts to use Taiwan to contain China are doomed to fail, and seeking 'independence' through force will only lead to self-destruction," Zhang said.

He urged the US to fully recognize the extreme sensitivity of the Taiwan question, strictly abide by the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiques, and handle Taiwan-related affairs "as cautiously as possible".

The spokesman urged the US to stop arming Taiwan in any form and to safeguard overall China-US relations and bilateral military ties.

Also on Thursday, Xu Dong, spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, expressed strong dissatisfaction with and firm opposition to the newly signed act.

Xu said the act continued a long-standing tone of containing China, hyped the so-called "China threat", and constituted blatant interference in China's internal affairs, seriously undermining China's core interests.

"We hope the US side views China's development and China-US relations objectively and rationally, and works with China to implement the important consensus reached in the meeting between the two countries' heads of state in Busan," Xu said.

"We strongly urge the US to abandon its zero-sum mentality and ideological bias, and to refrain from implementing the China-related negative provisions in the bill," he added.

He warned that if the US insists on going its own way, China will take resolute measures in accordance with the law to firmly safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests.

During the news conference, defense spokesman Zhang also slammed Taiwan's regional leader Lai Ching-te for what he described as "kowtowing to the US" and recklessly pursuing militarization, calling him "an instigator of war".

Lai recently told the media that Taiwan must pursue "peace through strength" and reaffirmed what he called a "rock-solid" relationship with the US, alongside plans to push forward a $40 billion arms procurement.

Zhang said Taiwan's DPP authorities are colluding with external forces in a bid to pursue "Taiwan independence", which he called the root cause of rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

"Lai's unprincipled submission to the US and his reckless pursuit of militarization have turned him into nothing more than a pure destroyer of peace and an instigator of war," Zhang said.

"Lai now has the audacity to talk about 'peace' while arrogantly boasting about 'strength', a stance that is both delusional and self-deceiving," the spokesman added.

"The trend toward national reunification is unstoppable," Zhang said. "Those who betray the nation and seek to split the country will ultimately be condemned by history."