China yesterday urged the United States to cancel a massive arms deal to Taiwan, warning of severe consequences if it does not heed the call.
The US defense department announced the contract late on Wednesday, allowing US company Lockheed Martin Corp to sell an unspecified number of Patriot air defense missiles to the island.
The hardware, some of the best in its class, could shoot down the Chinese mainland's short-range and mid-range missiles, Reuters quoted defense analysts as saying.
"This is the last piece that Taiwan has been waiting on," Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief of Defense Weekly, said.
The sale rounds out a broad $6.5-billion arms package approved under former US president George W. Bush in late 2008, he said.
The deal is currently pending notification to the US Congress.
The Foreign Ministry yesterday urged the US "to clearly recognize the severe consequences of arms sales to Taiwan" and protested to Washington, spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news briefing.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-01/08/content_9284287.htm
The US defense department announced the contract late on Wednesday, allowing US company Lockheed Martin Corp to sell an unspecified number of Patriot air defense missiles to the island.
The hardware, some of the best in its class, could shoot down the Chinese mainland's short-range and mid-range missiles, Reuters quoted defense analysts as saying.
"This is the last piece that Taiwan has been waiting on," Wendell Minnick, Asia bureau chief of Defense Weekly, said.
The sale rounds out a broad $6.5-billion arms package approved under former US president George W. Bush in late 2008, he said.
The deal is currently pending notification to the US Congress.
The Foreign Ministry yesterday urged the US "to clearly recognize the severe consequences of arms sales to Taiwan" and protested to Washington, spokeswoman Jiang Yu told a news briefing.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-01/08/content_9284287.htm
