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Gates says arms sales to continue

The US will continue its arms sales to Taiwan in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act to help Taiwan defend itself against any Chinese military threat, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said on Friday.

Asked about recent developments in US-China relations, Gates said during a media briefing on Iraq and Afghanistan that Chinese officials again raised the issue of US arms sales to Taiwan during his recent visit to China.

"I was very explicit that our arms sales were consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act and the joint statement and that as long as they continued to build up their forces on their side of the Taiwan Strait, we would continue to give Taiwan the resources necessary to defend itself," Gates said.

Hours after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke against Taiwan's plan to hold a referendum on applying to join the UN, Gates downplayed the significance of the referendum from his point of view, saying that passage of the poll would not provoke China to attack Taiwan militarily.

"I am not worried that there will be a military reaction" to the referendum, he said.

Gates said the US had spoken "quite clearly" on the issue to Taiwan and that Beijing "knows that we have spoken out," adding that "I think they'd [Chinese] like for us to speak out every single day."

Gates also repeated a warning he and other US officials had made to Beijing.

"I've made it pretty clear to the Chinese that they should continue to handle this matter in a political way," rather than using it as a pretext for military action against Taiwan, he said.
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