US arms sales to Taiwan hurt national security: China
Published on Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 14:41 | Source : Reuters
Updated at Sun, Jan 31, 2010 at 15:12
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US arms sales to Taiwan hurt national security: China
US arms sales to Taiwan hurt China's national security, its Foreign Minister said, escalating the rhetoric in a dispute threatening to deepen rifts between the world's biggest and third-biggest economies.
US arms sales to Taiwan hurt China's national security, its Foreign Minister said, escalating the rhetoric in a dispute threatening to deepen rifts between the world's biggest and third-biggest economies.
Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was the latest and most senior official to denounce the arms sale plan Washington announced on Friday.
The Obama administration has defended the package worth about USD 6.4 billion as necessary to boost regional security.
Yang, travelling in Cyprus, said China and the United States had held many discussions about the arms sales, but Washington had ignored Beijing's demand they be stopped, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
The United States should "truly respect China's core interests and major concerns, and immediately rescind the mistaken decision in order to avoid damaging broader China-US relations," Yang said.
He said the US move had "damaged China's national security and great task of reunification (with Taiwan)."
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province. Reflecting the intense emotions over the issue, Chinese Internet users vented anger with calls to boycott top US exporter Boeing and other firms involved in the sales.
China has for years opposed US arms sales to Taiwan. For the first time, however, Beijing is seeking to pressure the United States by punishing those private companies whose arms are involved in the Taiwan sales.
