China urged Washington yesterday to abandon plans to sell missile equipment to Taiwan, warning that the move would violate its security and severely undermine trust between the US and Chinese militaries.
“The US arms sales to Taiwan infringe upon China’s security interest as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and interfere with China’s internal affairs,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu (姜瑜) said in a statement.
A US official in Taipei said on Thursday the US Defense Department had approved the sale of Patriot missile equipment to Taiwan as part of a package passed by Congress more than a year ago.
The latest Foreign Ministry statement came hours after China’s Defense Ministry issued a separate warning that it reserved the right to take unspecified further action if Washington sells Taiwan missiles.
“The US side clings obstinately to the [former US president George W.] Bush administration’s plan of arms sales to Taiwan, which severely undermines the mutual trust between the two militaries,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Huang Xueping (黃雪平) was quoted as saying by the Xinhua news agency.
“It also brings a severe obstacle to the improvement and development of China-US military ties. We reserve the right of taking further actions,” he was quoted as saying.
When US President Barack Obama visited Beijing in November, the US and China vowed to take “concrete steps to advance sustained and reliable military-to-military relations in the future.”
The Foreign Ministry said it had raised “solemn representations to the US” over the matter.
“We urge the US to stop arms sales to Taiwan to avoid undermining China-US cooperation,” Jiang said. “We urge the US to clearly recognize the severe consequences of arms sales to Taiwan, reject the Cold War mentality.”
The US Defense Department awarded Lockheed Martin Corp the contract to provide Patriot missile defense systems to Taiwan as part of a big arms deal approved by Congress in 2008, said a spokesman for the American Institute in Taiwan.
The US Defense Department said in a statement on Wednesday the contract for Lockheed Martin involved “basic missile tooling upgrades.”
The Pentagon notified Congress in October 2008 of US$6.5 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, sparking condemnation from China.
The package included 330 Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles worth up to US$3.1 billion.
The contract now awarded by the Pentagon, which totals US$968.7 million and also covers deals not involving Taiwan, appears to be for only part of the missile sale announced in 2008.
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