China Attempts To Bully US Policy
China suspended military exchange visits with the United States on Saturday in protest over $6.4 billion in planned U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and warned the U.S. ambassador that the sales would harm already strained ties.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency cited the Defense Ministry as saying the suspension is due to the "bad impact" of the arms sales on the two countries' military relations.
China took a similar step in 2008 after the former Bush administration announced a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan. The latest arms sales could complicate the cooperation the U.S. seeks on issues ranging from Iran's nuclear program to the loosening of Internet controls, including a Google-China standoff over censorship.
Details of arms sale were posted Friday on a Pentagon Web site. It would include 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, 114 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, mine-hunting ships and information technology. U.S. lawmakers have 30 days to comment on the proposed sale. Without objections, it would proceed.
Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in U.S.-China relations. China claims the self-governing island as its own, while the United States is Taiwan's most important ally and largest arms supplier. Twaiwan has been independent for over half a century, when Chinese fleeing communists escaped there in 1949.
Though Taiwan's ties with China have warmed considerably since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took office 20 months ago, Beijing has threatened to invade if the island ever formalizes its de facto independence.
Earlier Saturday, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei warned U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman that the sale would "cause consequences that both sides are unwilling to see." The vice minister urged that the sale be immediately canceled, it said.
The U.S. is "obstinately making the wrong decision," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy, Susan Stevenson, confirmed that China expressed its views, and said the embassy had no comment on the suspension of military visits.
Jin Canrong, a professor of international studies at China's Renmin University, said the sale would give Beijing a "fair and proper reason" to accelerate weapons testing.
Beijing has test-fired rockets in recent weeks for an anti-missile defense system in what security experts said was a display of anger at the pending arms sale.
Communist China invaded Tibet in the 1950s, claiming that country belonged to China as well. They have been eyeing Taiwan since the mid 1970s, when they convinced the Carter Administration to abandon America's treaty to protect the Island nation. See Chick's KINGS OF THE EAST.
The state-run Xinhua News Agency cited the Defense Ministry as saying the suspension is due to the "bad impact" of the arms sales on the two countries' military relations.
China took a similar step in 2008 after the former Bush administration announced a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan. The latest arms sales could complicate the cooperation the U.S. seeks on issues ranging from Iran's nuclear program to the loosening of Internet controls, including a Google-China standoff over censorship.
Details of arms sale were posted Friday on a Pentagon Web site. It would include 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, 114 Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles, mine-hunting ships and information technology. U.S. lawmakers have 30 days to comment on the proposed sale. Without objections, it would proceed.
Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in U.S.-China relations. China claims the self-governing island as its own, while the United States is Taiwan's most important ally and largest arms supplier. Twaiwan has been independent for over half a century, when Chinese fleeing communists escaped there in 1949.
Though Taiwan's ties with China have warmed considerably since Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou took office 20 months ago, Beijing has threatened to invade if the island ever formalizes its de facto independence.
Earlier Saturday, Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei warned U.S. Ambassador Jon Huntsman that the sale would "cause consequences that both sides are unwilling to see." The vice minister urged that the sale be immediately canceled, it said.
The U.S. is "obstinately making the wrong decision," China's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy, Susan Stevenson, confirmed that China expressed its views, and said the embassy had no comment on the suspension of military visits.
Jin Canrong, a professor of international studies at China's Renmin University, said the sale would give Beijing a "fair and proper reason" to accelerate weapons testing.
Beijing has test-fired rockets in recent weeks for an anti-missile defense system in what security experts said was a display of anger at the pending arms sale.
Communist China invaded Tibet in the 1950s, claiming that country belonged to China as well. They have been eyeing Taiwan since the mid 1970s, when they convinced the Carter Administration to abandon America's treaty to protect the Island nation. See Chick's KINGS OF THE EAST.
posted by chickcomics | 8:34 PM
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