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Taipei (AFP) Feb 8, 2010 Taiwan's top negotiator with China said Monday that ties with Beijing had not been affected by a recently announced US arms package for the island, adding that trade talks would go on as scheduled. Washington last month approved a 6.4-billion-dollar deal that includes Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and communications equipment for Taiwan's F-16 fleet. The weapons sale has sparked concern that Beijing, which has already cut off military and security contacts with Washington in retaliation, could also punish Taipei by postponing negotiations on a wide-ranging trade pact. However, Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation, played down Monday the possible negative impact the sale might have on the island's hard-won ties with Beijing. "Since the arms deal was not new, I believe it won't threaten the coming negotiations," he told reporters. "At least for now, it has not caused any negative impact." The arms package was decided under previous US president George W. Bush in October 2008, and the sale announced now underway marks the implementation of that decision, some observers have argued. Ties between Taipei and Beijing have improved markedly since Ma Ying-jeou, a pro-China politician, became president in 2008, pledging to boost trade links and allow in more mainland tourists. Still, Beijing has not renounced the use of force against Taiwan, which has governed itself since the end of a civil war in 1949, prompting the island to seek more weapons mainly from the United States.
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US arms sales to Taiwan a 'violation': Chinese ministerMunich, Germany (AFP) Feb 5, 2010 Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said Friday that US arms sales to Taiwan constituted a violation of standards in international relations and would provoke a reaction by Beijing. "This is obviously a violation of the code of conduct between nations," Yang said in an opening speech to the Munich Security Conference in this southern German city, calling Taiwan "a part of China." "Of co ... read more |
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