China Fumes After US Arms Sales To Taiwan
Updated : Tuesday February 2 , 2010 12:41:19 AM
Chinese state media laid into the United States on Monday after the Obama administration unveiled its first arms package for Taiwan, a move that prompted China to impose sanctions on the firms involved.
The latest spat between the world's biggest and third-biggest economies threatens to add to a litany of other issues straining ties, including the value of China's currency, trade protectionism and Internet freedoms.
The official China Daily said U.S. weapons sales to the self-ruled and democratic island "inevitably casts a long shadow on Sino-US relations".
"China's response, no matter how vehement, is justified. No country worthy of respect can sit idle while its national security is endangered and core interests damaged," it said in an editorial.
"The U.S. decision not only runs counter to the common dream of pursuing development and cooperation among the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, but also exposes the U.S.' usage of double standards and hypocrisy on major issues related to China's core interests."
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, recognising "one China". But it remains Taiwan's biggest ally and is obliged by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to help in the island's defence.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province. Reflecting the intense emotions over the issue, Chinese Internet users vented anger with calls to boycott top U.S. exporter Boeing and other companies supplying weapon systems for the arms sales.
China has for years opposed U.S. defence sales to Taiwan. For the first time, however, Beijing sought to pressure the United States by punishing those private companies whose arms are involved in the Taiwan deals.
Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily said in a commentary that the arms sales showed Washington's "rude and unreasonable Cold War thinking".
"When it comes down to it, the United States is still drawing lines based on ideology and coming up with a million ways to stymie China's development and progress," the paper's overseas edition said.
"If the United States stubbornly persists in this Cold War thinking and ignores China's core interests and grave concerns, the United States will further damage the development of bilateral ties and the great task of world peace. In the end, it will reap what it has sown."
Chinese shares largely brushed off the spat, traders said, though offshore benchmark one-year dollar/yuan non-deliverable forwa rds (NDFs) rose to 6.6428 bid at 0230 GMT from 6.6230 at Friday's close, implying slightly slower appreciation for the yuan over the next 12 months.
Dealers said the NDFs' move was mainly driven by the dollar's global strength, but Sino-U.S. tensions also contributed to the rise, as investors worried that the issue could make China take an even harder line on keeping the yuan stable and would affect Sino-U.S. trade.
"RESPECT CHINA'S CORE INTERESTS"
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said at the weekend that Washington's planned $6.4 billion arms package had "damaged China's national security and great task of reunification (with Taiwan)".
The United States should "truly respect China's core interests and major concerns, and immediately rescind the mistaken decision ... in order to avoid damaging broader China-U.S. relations," Yang said.
China said it would impose unspecified sanctions on companies States unless it canceled the new arms package.
Beijing planned to postpone or partially halt some military cooperation, including a series of visits planned for this year -- among them, one by U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates -- along with meetings between top military commanders, and mutual visits by naval ships, Xinhua news agency reported.
U.S. officials sought to downplay the dispute on Saturday.
"We regret that the Chinese government has announced that it plans to curtail military-to-military and other security-related exchanges and take action against U.S. firms," said P.J. Crowley, the State Department's chief spokesman.
"We believe our policy contributes to stability and security in the region," he said.
U.S. officials have said Taiwan, which lags China in the balance of military power, needs updated weapons to give it more sway when negotiating with Beijing, which Taiwan says has aimed more than 1,400 short-range and mid-range missiles at the island.
Since 1949, when Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after losing the mainland to Communist rebels, Beijing has demanded Taiwan accept unification, threatening to use force if necessary.
The Global Times, a popular Chinese newspaper with a nationalist slant, and a Chinese web portal, Sohu, have launched an online petition protesting against the sales.
It calls for boycotts of U.S. goods with bitter denunciations of the United States. But similar boycott calls for French and Japanese goods over the past few years during times of political tension soon petered out.
Updated : Tuesday February 2 , 2010 12:41:19 AM
Chinese state media laid into the United States on Monday after the Obama administration unveiled its first arms package for Taiwan, a move that prompted China to impose sanctions on the firms involved.
The latest spat between the world's biggest and third-biggest economies threatens to add to a litany of other issues straining ties, including the value of China's currency, trade protectionism and Internet freedoms.
The official China Daily said U.S. weapons sales to the self-ruled and democratic island "inevitably casts a long shadow on Sino-US relations".
"China's response, no matter how vehement, is justified. No country worthy of respect can sit idle while its national security is endangered and core interests damaged," it said in an editorial.
"The U.S. decision not only runs counter to the common dream of pursuing development and cooperation among the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits, but also exposes the U.S.' usage of double standards and hypocrisy on major issues related to China's core interests."
The United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979, recognising "one China". But it remains Taiwan's biggest ally and is obliged by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to help in the island's defence.
Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province. Reflecting the intense emotions over the issue, Chinese Internet users vented anger with calls to boycott top U.S. exporter Boeing and other companies supplying weapon systems for the arms sales.
China has for years opposed U.S. defence sales to Taiwan. For the first time, however, Beijing sought to pressure the United States by punishing those private companies whose arms are involved in the Taiwan deals.
Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily said in a commentary that the arms sales showed Washington's "rude and unreasonable Cold War thinking".
"When it comes down to it, the United States is still drawing lines based on ideology and coming up with a million ways to stymie China's development and progress," the paper's overseas edition said.
"If the United States stubbornly persists in this Cold War thinking and ignores China's core interests and grave concerns, the United States will further damage the development of bilateral ties and the great task of world peace. In the end, it will reap what it has sown."
Chinese shares largely brushed off the spat, traders said, though offshore benchmark one-year dollar/yuan non-deliverable forwa rds (NDFs) rose to 6.6428 bid at 0230 GMT from 6.6230 at Friday's close, implying slightly slower appreciation for the yuan over the next 12 months.
Dealers said the NDFs' move was mainly driven by the dollar's global strength, but Sino-U.S. tensions also contributed to the rise, as investors worried that the issue could make China take an even harder line on keeping the yuan stable and would affect Sino-U.S. trade.
"RESPECT CHINA'S CORE INTERESTS"
Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said at the weekend that Washington's planned $6.4 billion arms package had "damaged China's national security and great task of reunification (with Taiwan)".
The United States should "truly respect China's core interests and major concerns, and immediately rescind the mistaken decision ... in order to avoid damaging broader China-U.S. relations," Yang said.
China said it would impose unspecified sanctions on companies States unless it canceled the new arms package.
Beijing planned to postpone or partially halt some military cooperation, including a series of visits planned for this year -- among them, one by U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates -- along with meetings between top military commanders, and mutual visits by naval ships, Xinhua news agency reported.
U.S. officials sought to downplay the dispute on Saturday.
"We regret that the Chinese government has announced that it plans to curtail military-to-military and other security-related exchanges and take action against U.S. firms," said P.J. Crowley, the State Department's chief spokesman.
"We believe our policy contributes to stability and security in the region," he said.
U.S. officials have said Taiwan, which lags China in the balance of military power, needs updated weapons to give it more sway when negotiating with Beijing, which Taiwan says has aimed more than 1,400 short-range and mid-range missiles at the island.
Since 1949, when Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after losing the mainland to Communist rebels, Beijing has demanded Taiwan accept unification, threatening to use force if necessary.
The Global Times, a popular Chinese newspaper with a nationalist slant, and a Chinese web portal, Sohu, have launched an online petition protesting against the sales.
It calls for boycotts of U.S. goods with bitter denunciations of the United States. But similar boycott calls for French and Japanese goods over the past few years during times of political tension soon petered out.