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TAIWAN NEWS
China strongly condemns US-Taiwan arms deal
by Staff Writers
Beijing (AFP) Sept 22, 2011

US Senate beats back Taiwan arms measure
Washington (AFP) Sept 22, 2011 - The US Senate on Thursday defeated an effort to force President Barack Obama to sell Taiwan some 66 F-16 fighter jets instead of upgrading the island's existing fleet of combat aircraft.

Senators voted 48-48 on a proposal by Republican Senator John Cornyn, who sharply criticized Obama's decision to stop short of selling new planes in favor of providing equipment, parts, training and logistical support.

Under Senate rules for the bill, 60 votes were required for approval.

Cornyn, whose home state of Texas would have gained from a deal to sell new F-16s, had hoped to attach the measure to a broad trade bill seen as paving the way for approving stalled deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea.

China has denounced the new $5.85 billion US deal with Taiwan -- which Beijing considers a breakaway province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary -- and warned it risks undermining warming military relations.

"What kind of message has the administration sent by denying our ally, Taiwan, the military assistance that they need?" said Cornyn, whose approach had the support of several Democrats.

Cornyn said China "would like nothing better than for us to turn our back on our allies in Taiwan, just like other bullies around the world would love for America to retreat and to pull back in our support for self-governing peoples everywhere."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry, a Democrat, led the opposition to Cornyn's measure, which he described as the wrong instrument for addressing tensions over China's rising clout.

"Without a doubt, the growing military disparity between China and the other countries in the region, as well as Taiwan, is something that we need to be thinking about," said Kerry.

But "mandating the sale of one particular weapon is not the way for the United States to respond, or deal with, or manage, the complex national security challenges of that region," he added.

China on Thursday strongly condemned a $5.85 billion US deal to upgrade Taiwan's fleet of F-16 fighter jets, summoning the US ambassador and warning the move would undermine warming military relations.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, urged the United States to cancel the deal and said it had jeopardised recent improvements in military ties between the two world powers and affected relations with Taiwan.

But analysts said the deal, which stopped short of selling new planes to Taiwan, would probably not be as damaging as an earlier arms package that led to a break in China-US military exchanges in 2010.

"The Chinese military expresses great indignation and strong condemnation," the defence ministry said in a strongly worded statement, announcing it had called in the acting US military attache for talks.

"US actions... have caused serious damage to Sino-US military relations, and have seriously undermined the good momentum of the peaceful development of cross-strait relations."

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, speaking in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, urged the United States to scrap the deal, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

"The Chinese side urges the US side to take China's solemn position very seriously, correct the mistake of selling weapons to Taiwan, immediately revoke the above-mentioned wrong decision, stop arms sales to Taiwan and US-Taiwan military contacts," he said.

Earlier, vice foreign minister Zhang Zhijun urged Washington to "immediately cancel the wrong decision" and summoned US Ambassador Gary Locke to protest against the deal, branded a "huge mistake" by China's top newspaper.

"If American politicians feel that the United States can... irresponsibly and randomly damage China's core interests without paying the price, this is a major and huge mistake," said the People's Daily, considered the mouthpiece of China's Communist Party.

But Jean-Pierre Cabestan, political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, said Beijing had learned lessons from the 2010 break-off in military ties and was unlikely to react as strongly this time.

"They are going to react, to get angry, and the military may take measures to better counter these retrofitted F-16s, but they will not break military ties with the United States like they did before," he told AFP.

"They're (China) in a new phase -- more flexible and accommodating, and with the Taiwanese electoral factor, it reduces their room for manoeuvre a lot and it will force them not to over-react on this."

Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou of the Beijing-friendly Kuomintang will seek re-election in January and Cabestan said China would be keen not to cause any upsets ahead of the polls.

Russell Leigh Moses, a Beijing-based political analyst, said China's reaction was an exercise in "how to avoid slamming the door while shouting".

"I think that Beijing's outrage has multiple audiences, in particular those at home on the mainland and in Taiwan," he said.

"There are ways in which they could have said hardly anything, but the consensus clearly was -- we'll go into the default mode of being pretty upset and angry, but not like it was a year ago."

Taiwan first lodged a request to buy 66 F-16 C/D fighters -- which have better radar and more powerful weapons systems than its F-16 A/Bs -- in 2007 in response to China's growing military muscle.

The deal to upgrade the existing fleet includes equipment, parts, training and logistical support.

The Taiwan defence ministry said it was "another signal of the solid foundation for mutual trust and the close security cooperation between Taiwan and the United States."

Observers and media in Taiwan said that while the deal may mean little in any war with China, it represented a valuable sign of US commitment to help the island's defence.

"This is a US compromise to satisfy some of Taiwan's defence needs and maintain friendly ties with Taiwan without touching China's bottom-line by selling new jets," said Kenneth Wang, a military expert at Taiwan's Tamkang University.

Washington recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, but remains a leading arms supplier to the island of 23 million inhabitants, providing a source of continued US-China tension.

However, relations between the US and Chinese militaries have improved over the past year and in July, Mike Mullen became the first chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2007 to visit China.

Ties between China and Taiwan have improved since Ma came to power in 2008, but Beijing has refused to renounce the use of force against the island, even though it has ruled itself for more than six decades since their split in 1949.

Related Links
Taiwan News at SinoDaily.com




 

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Chinese FM urges US to revoke arms sales to Taiwan
Beijing, China (AFP) Sept 23, 2011 - Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi urged the United States to immediately revoke a $5.85 billion deal to upgrade Taiwan's F-16 fighter jets, the state-run news agency Xinhua reported Friday.

In comments made on Thursday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York, Yang urged Washington to cut military links with Taipei to safeguard Sino-US relations, the report said.

Yang made the remarks in a speech to members of the National Committee on United States-China Relations and the US-China Business Council, Xinhua said.

"We should cherish our cooperation, as it embodies the important common interests of our two countries," said Yang.

"When it comes to major issues concerning China's sovereignty, security and development interests, the United States should handle them with extreme care so as to prevent interference and setbacks in China-US relations."

Yang added: "The Chinese side urges the US side to take China's solemn position very seriously, correct the mistake of selling weapons to Taiwan, immediately revoke the above-mentioned wrong decision, stop arms sales to Taiwan and US-Taiwan military contacts."

China had earlier strongly condemned the military package, summoning the US ambassador and warning the move would undermine warming military relations.

Washington recognises Beijing rather than Taipei, but remains a leading arms supplier to the island of 23 million inhabitants, providing a source of continued US-China tension.

However, relations between the US and Chinese militaries have improved over the past year and in July, Mike Mullen became the first chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff since 2007 to visit China.

Ties between China and Taiwan have improved since Ma came to power in 2008, but Beijing has refused to renounce the use of force against the island, even though it has ruled itself for more than six decades since their split in 1949.





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TAIWAN NEWS
Taiwan heartened despite second-best F-16 deal
Taipei (AFP) Sept 22, 2011
Washington's offer to upgrade Taiwan's fighter jets may mean little in any war with China, but represents a valuable sign of US commitment to help the island's defence, observers and media said Thursday. China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway province, under its control and its growing military and economic might has Taiwan worried if the U ... read more


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