Clinton pressed by China on Taiwan deal: US official

Sep 26, 2011 16:07 EDT



Clinton pressed by China on Taiwan deal: US official





Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during a meeting Monday to reconsider the US decision to upgrade F-16 fighters for Taiwan, a US official said.

The senior State Department official said the Chinese had warned in separate conversations of potential damage to US-China military ties if the $5.85 billion F-16 upgrade is not revoked.

"They indicated they are going to suspend, or cancel or postpone a series of... military-to-military engagements," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.

During his meeting in New York with Clinton, Yang made "very serious representations" about the move and asked "the Obama administration to reconsider this decision," the official said.

Yang "indicated that it would harm the trust and confidence" between the two world powers, but Clinton gave no sign that the United States would reconsider, the official said.

"Secretary Clinton responded very clearly that the United States had a strategic interest in the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," the official added.

US President Barack Obama's administration on Wednesday approved a $5.85 billion upgrade of Taiwan's fighter jets that stopped short of selling new F-16s.

Taiwan and US officials said the upgrade would improve the island's defenses as it faces a rising China, which has ramped up military spending and widened its strategic edge over the self-governing territory.

Officials in Washington and Taipei said Taiwan would get a retrofit of 145 F-16 A/B fighter jets, which will be equipped with modern weapons and radar capable of detecting China's new stealth airplanes.

China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, is urging Washington to cancel the deal and said it had jeopardized 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.

China's defeated nationalists fled to Taiwan after losing the civil war in 1949 and the island has since transformed into a vibrant democracy.

Ties between China and Taiwan have improved markedly since Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou took office in 2008 and ramped up trade and other links.

But China has refused to renounce the use of force against the self-governing island and Ma has publicly sought new F-16s.

Washington recognizes 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.

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.

Clinton and Yang also tackled North Korea, tension over China's claims to the South China Sea, and Pakistan as well as global economic issues, including "some of the concerns about developments in Europe," the US official said.

The two countries agreed they had a responsibility "to take the necessary steps to spur global growth," he said.

Source: AFP American Edition

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