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BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) — China on Saturday decided to suspend scheduled visits between the Chinese and U.S. armed forces, in response to Washington’s plan to sell a package of arms worth about 6.4 billion U.S. dollars to Taiwan.

“We made the decision out of considerations on the severe harm of the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan,” said Defense Ministry spokesman Huang Xueping in a statement.

The U.S. government on Friday announced the plans to sell a package of arms to Taiwan, which include Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and minesweepers. China immediately expressed strong indignation about the sale after the U.S. government notified the U.S. Congress of the plans.

Qian Lihua, director of the Defense Ministry’s Foreign Affairs Office, on Saturday summoned the defense attache of the U.S. Embassy in Beijing to lodge a stern protest.

“The Chinese military expresses grave indignation and strongly condemns such a move to grossly interfere into China’s internal affairs and harm China’s national security interests,” Qian said in a press release of the office.

Taiwan issue is related to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and concerns China’s core interests.

“The U.S. arms sales to Taiwan gravely violates the three joint communiques between China and the United States, and seriously endangers China’s national security and harms China’s reunification course,” Qian said.The U.S. such move also constitutes severe violation of the agreements reached by the top leaders of both sides on the China-U.S. relations in the new situation, he said.

Bayi-Building, the location of Chinese Defense Ministry

It runs counter to the principles of the joint statement issued during U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to China in November last year, said Qian.

The U.S. plan will definitely bring about serious negative impact on the relations between the two countries and militaries, and will to the end severely undermine the interests of the United States itself, he noted.

The United States have reiterated in many occasions that it will adhere to the one-China policy, abide by the three joint communiques and support the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Straits.

“However, the United States now takes faithless action to sell arms to Taiwan again,” Qian said such plans severely poison the political foundation of the relations between the two militaries, and produce grave obstacles to military exchanges between the two sides.

Qian urged the United States to respect China’s core interests and concerns, take practical actions to abide by its solemn commitments on Taiwan issue, withdraw its arms sales items to Taiwan, and stop military links with Taiwan, in order not to create further damage to the relations between the two countries and the two militaries and to the peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits.

“We reserve the right of taking further actions,” he noted.

According to Huang, the spokesman, “such a move is gravely against especially the ‘Aug. 17′ communique signed in 1982.”

The U.S. side states in the Communique that “it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan” and “intends to reduce gradually its sales of arms to Taiwan, leading over a period of time to a final resolution.”

“We will never give in or compromise in this issue,” the statement quoted Huang as saying, noting that the Chinese military will firmly fight against any move to destroy China’s national sovereignty security and territorial integrity.

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By admin

China Military Power Mashup

via Four Major Features of China’s Military Diplomacy in 2009.

November.20 (China Military News cited from Chinamil.com) — Huang Xueping, spokesman of the Ministry of National Defense of the People’s Republic of China, said in Beijing on November 19 that the year 2009 sees China conduct quite active military diplomacy which shows four major characteristics.

When answering the reporters’ questions, Huang Xueping said that China made great achievements in 2009 through developing foreign military relations in an all-round way and constantly deepening the pragmatic exchanges and co-operation.

According to Huang Xueping, the first characteristic of China’s military diplomacy in 2009 is reflected in the active high-level contact and defense consultations and the improved overall arrangement of military diplomacy. Leaders of the Central Military Commission (CMC) level and above visited 20-plus countries including the U.S., Russia and Australia and held 10-odd defense consultations with such countries as the U.S., Germany and Vietnam, strengthening military ties between China and the relevant countries.

The second characteristic is shown in the intensified endeavor devoted to joint military exercises and drills. A total of 7 Sino-foreign joint military exercises or drills were organized in the year among which the joint exercises in such fields as security and guard, peacekeeping, medical support and ship escort were held for the first time in the history of the Chinese military.

The third characteristic is reflected in the fact that multi-lateral military diplomatic activities were carried out on the 60th anniversary of the founding of People’s Republic of China to fully present Chinese military’s image of peace-loving, openness and readiness for cooperation. In addition, on the occasions of the respective 60th anniversaries of the establishment of the Navy and the Air Force of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the naval and air force commanders or their deputies from dozens of foreign countries were invited to attend the celebrations and delve into the fields and the methods of further cooperation between Chinese Navy and Air Force and their international counterparts.

The fourth characteristic can be seen in the further expansion of the military co-operation in the non-traditional security field. Since the Chinese government sent its naval escort taskforce to perform tasks in the sea area off the Somali coast, the Chinese escort taskforce has carried out various activities of escort cooperation such as commanders’ meeting, joint escort and joint exercise with its counterparts from a multiple of escort fleets of other countries and international organizations and put forward the proposal to escort merchant ships in partitioned area of responsibility in the Gulf of Aden, winning appreciation and support of most of the relevant countries.