US warned on Taiwan arms

CHINA'S military yesterday urged the new US administration to remove barriers to bilateral military relations and referred to Beijing's displeasure over Washington's arms sales to Taiwan."Facing the current difficulties in military relations, we call for the United States to take concrete measures to remove the obstacles," Defense Ministry spokesman Hu Changming said at a news conference announcing the release of a major white paper on national defense. The conference was held in Beijing hours before Barack Obama was sworn in as the new US president.
Also yesterday, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said China pledged to work with America to promote the development of constructive relations, while she also warned Washington about arms sales to Taiwan."Sino-US relations are at an important stage where they inherit from the past and usher in the future. Sound and growing relations not only support the fundamental interests of the two peoples but will also be conducive to world peace, stability and development," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said at a regular press conference.China-US military ties were strained after the Pentagon announced a US$6.5 billion arms deal with Taiwan in October. The deal included 30 Apache attack helicopters and 330 Patriot missiles.It was the biggest arms sale to Taiwan since China and the US signed a 1982 communique in which Washington agreed to gradually reduce its arms deals with Taiwan.The white paper criticized the US for continuing to "sell arms to Taiwan in violation of the principles established in all three Sino-US joint communiques, "causing serious harm to Sino-US relations as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait."Military contacts between the two countries were active and fruitful before the Taiwan arms sale, Chinese military officers said. In addition to frequent exchanges at various levels, the two defense departments had set up hotlines, and military officials held bilateral strategic talks for the first time last year.In December, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense David Sedney traveled to Beijing to try to mend strained military ties, but his visit didn't produce results.During a visit to Beijing early this month, outgoing US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte met with General Ma Xiaotian to discuss ways to resume bilateral military exchanges.Hu said China values its military relations with the US."President-elect Obama will take office in a few hours, and the current US Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, will keep his post," he said. "In the new era, I expect the two sides to make joint efforts to create conditions for the continuous improvement and development of bilateral military ties."Three decades of China-US ties have proved that military relations enjoy a solid political foundation only when each other's core interests are respected," he said.