By
The Associated Press
BEIJING - China yesterday denounced U.S. plans to sell weapons to Taiwan, warning Washington not to further hurt ties, while Taiwanese applauded the move as a signal of the Bush administration's commitment to the island.
China's Foreign Ministry said it "strongly opposed" the sale of destroyers, submarines and submarine-hunting planes and said it could increase China-Taiwan tensions.
"Washington must exercise prudence on the question of arms sales to Taiwan so as not to create new harm for relations," said the ministry spokeswoman, Zhang Qiyue.
Still, it was a relatively restrained response from China, possibly reflecting relief that Washington deferred Taiwan's request to buy U.S. destroyers equipped with the high-tech Aegis radar. Both China and the United States are also fearful of jeopardizing their tens of billions of dollars in annual trade.
U.S.-China relations are tense following an April 1 collision between a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese jet that led to the 11-day detention of the 24-member American crew. Ties have also been strained by China's detention of five writers and scholars, four of them American citizens or permanent U.S. residents.
Zhang said China had protested to Washington over the planned arms sale and would continue to do so. But she did not threaten specific action against the United States or Taiwan, which Beijing considers a lost province that it wants back. The two sides split amid civil war in 1949.
China had said the sale of Aegis equipment, a serious threat in any conflict with Taiwan, would be a major provocation.
Despite the deferral, China denounced the plans to offer Taiwan four Kidd-class destroyers, up to eight diesel submarines and 12 P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft.
"All these weapons are sophisticated and advanced arms which the Chinese side is opposed to," Zhang said. Such sales would "seriously undermine China's sovereignty, interfere in China's internal affairs and will give rise to tension across the Taiwan Straits."
Taiwan had no official comment, but lawmakers and analysts applauded Washington for granting many items on the island's weapons wish list.
"I think this decision shows the Bush administration took Taiwan's defense needs seriously," said Parris Chang, a senior lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. "It also shows Bush understands that the balance of power is tilting toward China."
For months, Taiwan's annual request for American weapons has been the subject of intense speculation and attention on the island. Many considered the issue to be a crucial test of whether the Bush administration would lean toward Taiwan or its giant communist rival.
Improved Taiwanese defenses could frustrate China's attempts to intimidate Taiwan into agreeing to union on Beijing's terms or conquering it if peaceful means fail.
"This is certainly the biggest package, and potentially one of the most meaningful in terms of war-fighting capabilities, approved for Taiwan ever," said Fu S. Mei, editor in chief of the Taiwan Defense Review Web site.
Another source of friction is Washington's decision last week to approve a visa for former Taiwan president Lee Teng-hui. China accuses Lee of seeking to block its efforts to get Taiwan back.
China's ambassador in Washington, Yang Jiechi, appealed Monday for the visa to be withdrawn, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.
The last time Lee visited America in 1995, as president, Beijing recalled its ambassador and held threatening war games near Taiwan. Lee plans to visit America in early May.
