Urging Washington to "rein-in its wild horse" at the edge of the cliff, China's foreign minister yesterday issued one of the strongest warnings yet over US sales of advanced weapons to Taiwan.
"The United States should come to a recognition of the serious dangers involved," Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇) told a news conference.
Using an old Chinese saying, he said Washington should "rein-in its wild horse right on the edge of the precipice."
In a blunt message to the new US administration of President George W. Bush, Tang said sales of military hardware to Taiwan such as the AEGIS radar system would endanger US-China relations and encourage advocates of independence on the island.
The minister also announced that an investigation into US charges that Chinese companies are helping Iraq rebuild its air defenses by laying fiber optic cables has found no evidence of this.
Tang said the charges were designed to divert attention from US and British bombing of Iraq, repeating China's initial hardline response. "Relevant agencies have carried out serious investigations," Tang said.
"The result of the investigations is that Chinese enterprises and corporations have not assisted Iraq in building projects of fiber optic cable used for air defense," Tang said.
China promised last week to look into the accusations, the first sign of trouble between Beijing and the new US administration of President George W. Bush.
It had originally dismissed the charges out of hand as part of a US smokescreen.
But, by offering to take the charges seriously, it had appeared interested in defusing the problem.
Some analysts speculated that Beijing wanted to sweep the issue off the table while it focused on trying to persuade the Bush administration not to sell advanced weapons to Taiwan.
Bush must make a decision in April on a new high-tech shopping list of military items drawn up by Taipei. Tang accused Washington of "making troubles" that prevented a resolution of the Taiwan issue.
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