Chinese Up In Arms Over U.S. And Taiwan
The Chinese don’t approve. They didn’t approve last time we sold arms to Taiwan, or the time before that. Why should this time be any different? So they make threats that there will be results.
Besides China’s suspension of military exchanges and their sanctions against the United States, the most damaging result would be refusal to support sanctions on Iran.
from the Los Angeles Times -
Reporting from Paris – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton warned China on Friday that it faced international pressure and increasing isolation unless it joined other world powers in sanctioning Iran to try to halt Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The admonishment from Clinton came on the same day the Pentagon announced more than $6 billion in arms sales to Taiwan, a move certain to infuriate Beijing and add a new complication to the U.S.-Chinese relationship.
Why shouldn’t Taiwan build up it’s military to defend itself against the likes of China? What about China’s past arms sales? Back up to 2006 for instance.
from the Asia Times-
NEW YORK – The People’s Republic of China, a veto-wielding permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and one of the world’s prolific arms producers, remains a major stumbling block to US efforts to impose economic and military sanctions on three countries: Sudan, Myanmar and Iran.
[...]
And according to a new report released by London-based Amnesty International, China is a key arms supplier to countries such as Sudan, Myanmar and Nepal, all three described by AI as human-rights violators.
Iran is also a longtime recipient of Chinese weapons, including Shenyang fighter planes, T-59 battle tanks, HY-2 Silkworm surface-to-surface missiles, and rocket launchers. China has strong economic interests in both Sudan and Iran, which, in turn, are oil suppliers to China.
China is an irresponsible exporter of arms.