China has strongly condemned US plans for a $5.3bn upgrade to Taiwan's US-built F-16s, calling it a "grave interference" in its internal affairs and threatened to undermine relations with the US.<br /><br />The Chinese foreign ministry said in a statement on Thursday that Zhang Zhijun, the country's deputy foreign minister, summoned the US ambassador in Beijing, Gary Locke, to deliver the protest over the warplanes deal.<br /><br />"The wrongdoing by the US side will inevitably undermine bilateral relations as well as exchanges and co-operation in military and security areas," Zhang told Locke, according to the statement.<br /><br />Zhang voiced his country's "strong indignation and resolute opposition" to the deal, according to his ministry's website.<br /><br />Al Jazeera's Florence Looi reports.
