China has protested to the United States for the reported planned sale of 66 F-16 fighter jets to Taiwan, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

Beijing had made a solemn representation to Washington after taking note of media reports that the United States had agreed to sell the jets to Taiwan, ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said in comments posted on its Web site (www.fmprc.gov.cn).

"We urge the United States ... not to sell the above-mentioned fighter jets to the Taiwan authorities in order to avoid seriously damaging peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and Sino-US relations," Liu said.

He did not say where the media reports originated.

The two sides split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949.

Guo Boxiong, vice chairman of China's Central Military Commission, is currently on an official visit to the United States.

During Guo's meeting with US President George W. Bush on Thursday, Bush said the US position on the Taiwan issue is very clear and the US government will continue to adhere to the three joint communiques between the United States and China and is opposed to any attempts to change the status quo across the Taiwan Straits.