The New York Times
February 25, 2010
By ANDREW JACOBS

BEIJING — A top Chinese military official reaffirmed China’s resolve to punish the United States over its decision to sell weapons to Taiwan and suggested on Thursday that there would be even greater consequences should Washington fulfill a longstanding request by Taiwan for advanced fighter jets.

The official, Huang Xueping, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, warned the United States to “speak and act cautiously” if it wanted to avoid further damage to bilateral ties, according to Xinhua, the state news agency. Mr. Huang said that earlier threats to suspend military cooperation and exchanges between the countries “remain unchanged,” but he did not elaborate on what such sanctions would entail.

In previous statements, the Chinese government has said that it would cancel visits between top military leaders and retaliate against American companies engaged in weapon sales to Taiwan.

In recent weeks, Chinese officials and editorials in the state-controlled media have been fulminating over the Pentagon’s $6.4 billion arms package to Taiwan, which would include Black Hawk helicopters, communications equipment and 114 Patriot missiles. Earlier this month a group of high-ranking military officers urged China to dump some of its holdings in United States Treasuries.

The arms deal, announced last month but in the works since the George W. Bush administration, falls under a law passed by the U.S. Congress in 1979 that requires the United States to make “arms of a defensive character” available to Taiwan.

China considers the island part of its sovereign territory and it warns that it would use force if necessary to prevent Taiwan from becoming an independent nation. The two have been rivals since 1949, when the Kuomintang forces of Chiang Kai-shek lost the Chinese civil war and fled across the Taiwan Strait.     more …