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Kurt Campbell faces
heat in Beijing
By J. Michael Cole / Staff Reporter
US arms sales to Taiwan were one of the main topics raised by China during a
visit to Beijing yesterday by US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and
Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell.
The meeting was part of a second series of talks on Asia-Pacific affairs to
boost bilateral communication and address regional and global issues, co-chaired
by Campbell, who is currently visiting the region, and Chinese Vice Deputy
Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai (±Z¤Ñ³Í).
Cui said US arms sales to Taiwan jeopardized China¡¦s core interests and Sino-US
relations and constituted a disruption in the course of the ¡§peaceful
development¡¨ in the Taiwan Strait.
Such sales will be harmful to US interests in the long term, he said, adding
that he hoped Washington would not become involved in any further arms sales to
Taiwan, the state-owned Global Times reported last night.
On Monday, Cui had told a press briefing on the meetings that he intended to
express Beijing¡¦s strong displeasure about arms sales when he met the US
diplomat.
¡§The United States has time and again sold weapons to Taiwan. So, of course, we
will have to express our stern opposition,¡¨ The Associated Press quoted him as
saying.
However, Cui also appeared to indicate that Beijing wanted to move on from the
matter and did not want it to sour the overall mood for the talks.
¡§By putting these issues on the table tomorrow, we hope to better address these
issues and prevent them from excessively interfering in the normal development
of China-US relations,¡¨ he said.
Beijing has said the announcement by US President Barack Obama¡¦s administration
last month of a US$5.85 billion arms package for Taiwan, mostly upgrades for its
145 aging F-16A/Bs, would hurt relations and that it could suspend some
military-to-military ties as a consequence.
Some members of the People¡¦s Liberation Army and strong nationalists have called
on Beijing to adopt stronger measures, including economic retaliation against
military contractors involved in the deal.
China has made it a tradition to protest at US arms sales to Taiwan. It
suspended military-to-military ties following the release of a US$6.4 billion
arms package by the Obama administration in January last year and vowed to take
action against US firms involved in the sale.
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