SHANGHAI, September 26. /TASS/. US allies who may want to sell arms to Taiwan must first get Washington's support, Chen Shiliang, the head of the secretariat of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the East China Normal University (ECNU) has told TASS.

"Taiwan pays money to the United States, but it does not know in which year and month it will receive weapons. The United States is selling expiring and obsolete weapons to Taiwan, killing two birds with one stone. It is playing the Taiwan card in order to harm mainland China. If these weapons are not sold to Taiwan, the US will be forced to scrap them," he said, adding that in this way the US was saving money by harming mainland China and making money on Taiwan.

The expert pointed out that if US partners wished to sell weapons to the island, they would not be able to do so without Washington's permission.

"If US allies were to sell weapons to Taiwan, they would have to get US approval. Taiwan is buying more weapons in vain. You will see a huge gap, if you compare the military power on both sides [of the Taiwan Strait]. Taiwan is a tiny island. If mainland China uses military force, Taiwan will be unable to fight back. Within three days or a week, mainland China will take Taiwan," Chen opined.

The other day, Taiwan's deputy defense chief, Hsu Yen-pu said he might ask US allies to provide military aid to the island, if Washington failed to observe the arms delivery schedule. Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said on September 20 that the United States was seriously violating the "one China" principle by planning another arms shipment to the island.

Taiwan has been ruled by its own administration since 1949, when remnants of the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) fled there after being defeated in the Chinese Civil War. Beijing considers Taiwan as one of the PRC's provinces. The US severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 and established them with the PRC. While professing commitment to the "one China" policy, Washington continues to maintain contact with the Taipei administration. The US is Taiwan's main arms supplier. The PRC Foreign Ministry estimates that the total amount of US military supplies to the island has exceeded $70 billion over the years.