China opposes the United States having official exchanges with Taiwan, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday.

Jiang made the remarks when asked to comment on Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou's Honduras tour with a scheduled stopover in the United States.

Jiang said at a regular press briefing that China opposed the United States having any official exchanges and contacts with Taiwan and this position remained clear and consistent.

Jiang said, "We demand that the United States abide by the principles laid out in the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques and properly deal with the related issue with caution."

Jiang repeated opposition to recent U.S. arms sales of Patriot missiles and related anti-missile systems to Taiwan, which were planned by George W. Bush's administration and approved by the U.S. Defense Department last week.

Jiang urged the United States to respect China's core interests, as it promised in a joint statement issued last November, when President Barack Obama visited China.

"It's an important condition for the steady development of China-U.S. relations to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, core interests and major concerns," Jiang said.