pkd
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2009
- Messages
- 1,432
- Reaction score
- 0
China blocks US military visits over Taiwan arms deal
Beijing has suspended visits between the Chinese and US armed forces in protest at Washingtons plan to sell weapons worth $6.4 billion to Taiwan, state media said on Saturday.
The defence ministry official in charge of foreign affairs, Qian Lihua, had summoned the US Embassy in Beijings defence attache on Saturday afternoon to complain about the arms deal, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Defence officials were not immediately available for comment and the agency did not provide further details.
Deputy foreign minister He Yafei had said in a statement the arms deal was bound to damage Sino-US relations, bringing about negative impact on exchange and cooperation in major areas between the two countries, causing results that both sides do not want to see.
The US on Friday approved the sale of an arms package that includes Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, and communications equipment for Taiwans F-16 fleet.
The last US arms package for Taiwan, announced under previous president George W. Bush in October 2008, led China to cut off military relations with the US temporarily.
The latest move constituted crude interference in Chinas internal affairs that seriously endangers Chinas national security and damages Chinas peaceful reunification, He said.
China considers Taiwan, where nationalists fled in 1949 after losing the mainlands civil war, to be a territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. It had warned Washington repeatedly against the arms sales.
China blocks US military visits over Taiwan arms deal- Hindustan Times
Beijing has suspended visits between the Chinese and US armed forces in protest at Washingtons plan to sell weapons worth $6.4 billion to Taiwan, state media said on Saturday.
The defence ministry official in charge of foreign affairs, Qian Lihua, had summoned the US Embassy in Beijings defence attache on Saturday afternoon to complain about the arms deal, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Defence officials were not immediately available for comment and the agency did not provide further details.
Deputy foreign minister He Yafei had said in a statement the arms deal was bound to damage Sino-US relations, bringing about negative impact on exchange and cooperation in major areas between the two countries, causing results that both sides do not want to see.
The US on Friday approved the sale of an arms package that includes Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters, and communications equipment for Taiwans F-16 fleet.
The last US arms package for Taiwan, announced under previous president George W. Bush in October 2008, led China to cut off military relations with the US temporarily.
The latest move constituted crude interference in Chinas internal affairs that seriously endangers Chinas national security and damages Chinas peaceful reunification, He said.
China considers Taiwan, where nationalists fled in 1949 after losing the mainlands civil war, to be a territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary. It had warned Washington repeatedly against the arms sales.
China blocks US military visits over Taiwan arms deal- Hindustan Times
