Taiwan is being pushed to modernise its military by the US but it says it doesn't want an arms race with China - ABC News

China has threatened to retaliate against the latest US weapons sale to Taiwan, which has said it is not looking to enter an arms race with Beijing.

Responding the Trump administration's approval of a potential $US1.8 billion ($2.5 billion) arms sale to Taiwan, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said such sales should stop.

The sales "seriously interfere with China's internal affairs, seriously damage China's sovereignty and security interests, send a seriously wrong signal to Taiwan independence forces, and severely damage China–US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," he said on Thursday.

Beijing has applied increasing pressure on democratically ruled Taiwan to accept China's sovereignty, including by flying fighter jets across the sensitive mid-line of the Taiwan Strait, which normally serves as an unofficial buffer.

He said the weapons were to help Taiwan improve its defensive capabilities to deal with the "enemy threat and new situation".