China has postponed several high-level exchanges between US and Chinese military leaders since Washington angered Beijing by announcing a US$6.4 billion arms package for Taiwan, US officials said on Tuesday.
The Pentagon has sought to play down the tension over the sale, describing Beijing’s response so far as limited in scope, and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said he still plans to visit China later this year.
China has postponed planned visits to the US by its chief of the General Staff, as well as by one of its top regional military commanders, Pentagon officials said when asked about Beijing’s retaliatory actions.
A planned visit to China by the commander of the US Pacific Command has also been put off.
“There are other, as yet unscheduled, events the PRC [People’s Republic of China] is not considering for the time being,” a Pentagon official said. However, “nothing has been formally canceled.”
In addition to scaling back security relations, China said it would sanction US firms that sell weapons to Taiwan, but Pentagon officials and other observers in Washington pointed to signs Beijing wanted to keep a lid on tensions.
Earlier this month, China allowed a US aircraft carrier to berth in Hong Kong. China has sometimes barred US navy ships from stopping at Hong Kong during times of tension, including in 2007, when the USS Kitty Hawk was denied entry.
Tensions flared up again last week when US President Barack Obama held a low-key meeting at the White House with the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled leader. Beijing accused Washington of damaging ties, but did not announce any broader retaliation.
When asked what actions China has taken to curb military-to-military contacts, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said: “We haven’t noticed anything significant.”
A Pentagon official said later it was “still early to speculate” on whether the row would affect other military engagements.
Meanwhile, China’s Communist Party has issued an ethics code to curb the widespread corruption that its leaders see as one of the biggest threats to its long-term survival, state media reported yesterday.
The guidelines spell out 52 banned practices for officials, including accepting cash or other financial rewards as gifts and using their influence to benefit family, friends or associates, the China Daily reported.
Party officials are also barred from involvement in for-profit activities and from using public funds for personal interests.
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