"I think it's unfortunate that China's reacted the way it has," Lemkin told journalists on the sidelines of the Singapore Airshow, a key industry trade fair for civil and military aerospace suppliers and Asian buyers.

Asked if Washington would back off after China's strong response, including a threat to impose sanctions on US companies, Lemkin said "this is a policy decision based on principle, and based on our commitment in the Taiwan Relations Act."

He said Washington hoped Beijing and Taipei would continue to reduce tensions through dialogue.

Lemkin was speaking hours after China warned the United States that their cooperation on international and regional issues could suffer, and urged US firms to back away from the arms deal.

"China-US relations, in important international and regional issues, will inevitably be influenced and the responsibility completely lies with the United States," foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu told reporters.

"We strongly urge relevant US companies to stop pushing forward and taking part in the arms sales to Taiwan," Ma said.

The United States has approved a package of Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and other military hardware totalling 6.4 billion US dollars for Taiwan, which China views as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

China, which has always strongly opposed US sales to Taiwan, reacted angrily to the news, cutting off military and security contacts with Washington and threatening to impose sanctions on the firms involved in the transaction.

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