Click here for original article

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.

You may also be interested in

• January 8, 2010 — Chinese General Warning sanction the US firms behind the arm sales to Taiwan (3)
• October 28, 2009 — First PLA Soldier Landing in Taiwan? Chinese army singer to perform in this Island (1)
• October 17, 2009 — Missile Test failure Shames Taiwan’s President (0)
• August 21, 2009 — China urges U.S. to remove military relation obstacles, such as Arm Sales to Taiwan (1)
• August 17, 2009 — Since 1979, First US military aircraft lands in Taiwan (0)
• April 27, 2009 — Taiwan trying to mend fences with China, U.S. (0)
• February 16, 2009 — Not only Taiwan, China military eyes global role: US intel chief (1)
• January 13, 2009 — Taiwan surprises Chinese “Spy” peeking military bases!! (0)
• December 19, 2008 — Taiwan scales down military exercises amid thaw with China (0)
• December 19, 2008 — US admiral wants China military ties resumed (1)

By admin

originally published at china-defense-mashup.com

December.08 ( China Military News cited from China Daily ) — China yesterday urged the United States to cancel a massive arms deal to Taiwan, warning of severe consequences if it does not heed the call.

The US defense department announced the contract late on Wednesday, allowing US company Lockheed Martin Corp to sell an unspecified number of Patriot air defense missiles to the island.

The hardware, some of the best in its class, could shoot down the Chinese mainland’s short-range and mid-range missiles, Reuters quoted defense analysts as saying.

“This is the last piece that Taiwan has been waiting on,” Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief of Defense Weekly, said.

The sale rounds out a broad $6.5-billion arms package approved under former US president George W. Bush in late 2008, he said.

The deal is currently pending notification to the US Congress.

The Foreign Ministry yesterday urged the US “to clearly recognize the severe consequences of arms sales to Taiwan” and protested to Washington, spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news briefing.

The Ministry of National Defense told China Daily last night it was checking the information with the US.

Jin Canrong, deputy dean of the International Studies School at Renmin University of China, said Beijing is almost certain to retaliate against Washington if the deal is consummated.

“It is likely to freeze military exchanges. It will make the US very uncomfortable because of all the world’s strategic military powers, the US is most eager to learn about the PLA.”

Rear-Admiral Yang Yi, an expert at the Institute of Strategic Studies of the National Defense University, said it was time for China to sanction the US arms firms behind the deal.

Rear-Admiral Yang Yi

“When it comes to a question of principles, we should never make concessions,” he said.

Some US companies which sell weapons to Taiwan also want to sell aircraft and other goods to China, added Yang, without naming any firms.

“Why don’t we take defensive countermeasures against them? Apart from just protesting to the US government, why don’t we impose sanctions on these troublemakers?”

Sooner or later, Washington will recognize the arms sales “hurt both itself and others” as it will suffer from strained relations with China, Yang said.

He also rebuffed claims that the arms sales will not stop as they are stipulated in US law. “There is nothing in the world that can never be changed We should make continuous efforts to reshape the policy choices of the US”.

However, Niu Jun, a professor on US studies at Peking University, questioned the feasibility of sanctions as the US will, in turn, penalize Chinese companies.

But Chinese netizens have spontaneously called for a boycott of US companies behind the arms deal.

They launched a massive boycott of French retail chain Carrefour and luxury brand Louis Vuitton after the Beijing Olympics torch relay was interrupted in Paris in 2008. Since then, Internet users have become a powerful factor holding sway in diplomacy.

In a public letter last month targeting United Technologies, producer of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters supplied to Taiwan, a Chinese netizen named Dai Jianfen called for the boycott of all the firm’s products and deals. United Technologies is reported to be one of the largest foreign investors on the Chinese mainland.

A survey by a major Chinese website showed nearly 96 percent of the voters were supportive of such a boycott.

Business relations between Lockheed Martin and the Chinese mainland are unclear.

Wu Nengyuan, director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Fujian Academy of Social Sciences, said the arms sale is casting a shadow over improving relations across the Taiwan Straits.

“To eradicate the problem, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan should reach a peace agreement,” he said.

You may also be interested in

• October 28, 2009 — First PLA Soldier Landing in Taiwan? Chinese army singer to perform in this Island (0)
• October 17, 2009 — Missile Test failure Shames Taiwan’s President (0)
• August 21, 2009 — China urges U.S. to remove military relation obstacles, such as Arm Sales to Taiwan (1)
• August 17, 2009 — Since 1979, First US military aircraft lands in Taiwan (0)
• April 27, 2009 — Taiwan trying to mend fences with China, U.S. (0)
• February 16, 2009 — Not only Taiwan, China military eyes global role: US intel chief (1)
• January 13, 2009 — Taiwan surprises Chinese “Spy” peeking military bases!! (0)
• December 19, 2008 — Taiwan scales down military exercises amid thaw with China (0)
• December 19, 2008 — US admiral wants China military ties resumed (1)
• December 9, 2008 — Japan concerned over Taiwan’s growing ties with China (2)

By admin

Mainland, Taiwan to hold talks in mid or late December: “Negotiators from the Chinese mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) will meet in Taiwan’s Taizhong in mid or late December for a new round of talks between the two organizations.

The decision was made on Tuesday between Zheng Lizhong, deputy chief of the ARATS, and Kao Kung-lian, vice chairman and secretary general of the SEF in Hangzhou.

The two sides agreed to make preparations for four issues to be …”