US arms sales to Taiwan were one of the main topics raised by China during a visit to Beijing yesterday by US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell.
The meeting was part of a second series of talks on Asia-Pacific affairs to boost bilateral communication and address regional and global issues, co-chaired by Campbell, who is currently visiting the region, and Chinese Vice Deputy Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai (崔天凱).
Cui said US arms sales to Taiwan jeopardized China’s core interests and Sino-US relations and constituted a disruption in the course of the “peaceful development” in the Taiwan Strait.
Such sales will be harmful to US interests in the long term, he said, adding that he hoped Washington would not become involved in any further arms sales to Taiwan, the state-owned Global Times reported last night.
On Monday, Cui had told a press briefing on the meetings that he intended to express Beijing’s strong displeasure about arms sales when he met the US diplomat.
“The United States has time and again sold weapons to Taiwan. So, of course, we will have to express our stern opposition,” The Associated Press quoted him as saying.
However, Cui also appeared to indicate that Beijing wanted to move on from the matter and did not want it to sour the overall mood for the talks.
“By putting these issues on the table tomorrow, we hope to better address these issues and prevent them from excessively interfering in the normal development of China-US relations,” he said.
Beijing has said the announcement by US President Barack Obama’s administration last month of a US$5.85 billion arms package for Taiwan, mostly upgrades for its 145 aging F-16A/Bs, would hurt relations and that it could suspend some military-to-military ties as a consequence.
Some members of the People’s Liberation Army and strong nationalists have called on Beijing to adopt stronger measures, including economic retaliation against military contractors involved in the deal.
China has made it a tradition to protest at US arms sales to Taiwan. It suspended military-to-military ties following the release of a US$6.4 billion arms package by the Obama administration in January last year and vowed to take action against US firms involved in the sale.
CLEAR BEFORE LEAVING: Two baby boys and a woman in her 30s tested negative before departing for Japan, but tests taken after their arrival came back postive Three Taiwanese tested positive for COVID-19 when they arrived in Japan earlier this month, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said yesterday as it reported a new imported case. Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), head of the center, said that one of the three cases in Japan is a Taiwanese baby under the age of one, whose parents work in Japan. The infant came to Taiwan with his parents in January, and the parents paid for the family’s COVID-19 tests on Oct. 10 ahead of their planned return to Japan on Monday last week, he said. The boy and his
‘BACKED BY ENEMY’: CTi News is one of the few channels promoting unification, the New Party chairman said, while pro-Taiwan groups called it a propaganda outlet Pan-blue camp supporters yesterday lodged a protest at the National Communications Commission (NCC) against what they say is a possible move by the government to shut down CTi News, adding that politics should not interfere with freedom of the press. Protesters included representatives from the New Party, the Blue Sky Action Alliance, the 333 Political Party Alliance and other pan-blue groups. “We stand here today because CTi News is one of the few media outlets in Taiwan that is still willing to give groups supporting unification with China a voice. If the news channel is gone, there would only be
NEW YEAR’S EVE: Examples from South Korea and Japan show that 15 local COVID-19 infections could emerge in a short period if measures are not taken The Taipei City Government would cancel its New Year’s Eve Party and all large events if 15 or more confirmed cases of COVID-19 are reported in the city within a week, Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) said yesterday. Addressing the Taipei Cross Border E-Commerce Annual Convention, Ko said the COVID-19 pandemic has brought many uncertainties to society, and that e-commerce is on a path of no return and would continue to grow. Many countries have not effectively controlled their COVID-19 outbreaks, and although Taiwan implements strict border controls and there have been few inbound passengers, the pandemic is unlikely to end soon,
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday accused CTi News of trying to mislead the public by publishing a half-page advert claiming that the party interfered in the National Communications Commission’s (NCC) review of its application for a license renewal. CTi News is distorting the commission’s review process by painting it as a political conflict and turning it into a smear campaign against the DPP, party spokeswoman Yen Juo-fang (顏若芳) said. “The NCC is an independent body, which carries out reviews and makes decisions based on its members’ professional expertise, as well as regulations and legal requirements governing media operations,” Yen said. “We condemn
RSS