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Fury at US arms sales to Taiwan
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
September 23, 2011, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
China yesterday denounced a decision by the United States to upgrade Taiwan's F-16 fighter jets, summoning the US ambassador and warning that military ties and overall relations will suffer.
"The Chinese military expresses its utmost indignation and strong condemnation of this action that gravely interferes in China's domestic affairs and damages China's sovereignty and national security interests," Ministry of Defence spokesman Geng Yansheng said.
The weapons sales would "create serious obstacles to the development of ordinary exchanges between our two militaries," Geng said.
China's Foreign Ministry lambasted the Obama administration for telling US Congress on Wednesday it plans a US$5.3 billion upgrade of Taiwan's F-16 fighter fleet and warned the move would damage China-US military and security links.
Late on Wednesday, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun summoned US Ambassador Gary Locke in Beijing to deliver the protest.
"The wrongdoing by the US side will inevitably undermine bilateral relations as well as exchanges and cooperation in military and security areas," Zhang told Locke.
China's ambassador to the US, Zhang Yesui, also lodged a protest.
"China sees the arms sale as a political insult, because the United States says our two sides are in the same boat and it hopes that China will buy its Treasury bonds - but then politically the United States does this," said Sun Zhe, a professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University who specializes in US policy.
In a commentary, the People's Daily said: "American politicians are totally mistaken if they believe they can, on the one hand, demand that China behave as a responsible great power and cooperate with the US on this and that issue, while on the other hand irresponsibly and wantonly harm China's core interests."
The US upgrade of Taiwan's 145 F-16s will give them much the same capabilities as the late-model F-16 C/Ds that Taiwan has sought for years, Washington officials said.
The jets deal came less than two years after the Pentagon's decision in January 2010 to sell a US$6.4 billion arms package to Taiwan. After that sale, China suspended several military exchange programs with the US.
Stressing the Taiwan issue concerns China's sovereignty, territorial integrity and core interests, Geng said the Chinese military's position on safeguarding state sovereignty and territorial integrity is resolute. He called on the US to stop selling arms and to cut military links to Taiwan.
Geng said the arms sale goes against the consensus agreed by the heads of both states to build a China-US partnership featuring mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.
"The Chinese military expresses its utmost indignation and strong condemnation of this action that gravely interferes in China's domestic affairs and damages China's sovereignty and national security interests," Ministry of Defence spokesman Geng Yansheng said.
The weapons sales would "create serious obstacles to the development of ordinary exchanges between our two militaries," Geng said.
China's Foreign Ministry lambasted the Obama administration for telling US Congress on Wednesday it plans a US$5.3 billion upgrade of Taiwan's F-16 fighter fleet and warned the move would damage China-US military and security links.
Late on Wednesday, Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Zhijun summoned US Ambassador Gary Locke in Beijing to deliver the protest.
"The wrongdoing by the US side will inevitably undermine bilateral relations as well as exchanges and cooperation in military and security areas," Zhang told Locke.
China's ambassador to the US, Zhang Yesui, also lodged a protest.
"China sees the arms sale as a political insult, because the United States says our two sides are in the same boat and it hopes that China will buy its Treasury bonds - but then politically the United States does this," said Sun Zhe, a professor at Beijing's Tsinghua University who specializes in US policy.
In a commentary, the People's Daily said: "American politicians are totally mistaken if they believe they can, on the one hand, demand that China behave as a responsible great power and cooperate with the US on this and that issue, while on the other hand irresponsibly and wantonly harm China's core interests."
The US upgrade of Taiwan's 145 F-16s will give them much the same capabilities as the late-model F-16 C/Ds that Taiwan has sought for years, Washington officials said.
The jets deal came less than two years after the Pentagon's decision in January 2010 to sell a US$6.4 billion arms package to Taiwan. After that sale, China suspended several military exchange programs with the US.
Stressing the Taiwan issue concerns China's sovereignty, territorial integrity and core interests, Geng said the Chinese military's position on safeguarding state sovereignty and territorial integrity is resolute. He called on the US to stop selling arms and to cut military links to Taiwan.
Geng said the arms sale goes against the consensus agreed by the heads of both states to build a China-US partnership featuring mutual respect, mutual benefit and win-win cooperation.
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