BEIJING: China has slammed the latest round of US arms sales to Taiwan, vowing to take “all necessary measures” to assert its sovereignty over the self-ruled island it claims as its own.

The US State Department on Friday approved a $2 billion arms sale package for Taiwan, including advanced surface-to-air missile systems and radar. The deal awaits approval by Congress.

Taipei’s defence ministry on Saturday expressed its “sincere gratitude” for the sale, saying it would “help the military continue to improve its defence resilience and jointly maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait”. Beijing’s foreign ministry hit back in a statement late Saturday, saying the latest arms package “seriously violates China’s sovereignty and security interests, seriously damages China-US relations, and endangers peace and stability” in the strait.

“China strongly condemns and firmly opposes it, and has lodged solemn representations with the US,” a ministry spokesperson said.It added that Beijing would “take all necessary measures to firmly defend national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”.China has refused to rule out using force to bring Taiwan under its control.

Beijing maintains a near-daily presence of fighter jets, drones and warships around the democratic island, and held large-scale war games in its vicinity this month.Earlier this month, Taiwan detected a record 153 Chinese aircraft in one day.

The US is Taipei’s key partner and provider of weapons despite having no official diplomatic ties with the democratic island.In September, Beijing sanctioned US defence companies in retaliation for Washington’s approval of the sale of military equipment to Taiwan.