Community | January 30, 2010 | 40 comments

China pissed at $6.4 billion weapons sale to Taiwan

source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8489301.stm

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remanns
-US defends $6.4bn weapons sale to Taiwan-

The US has defended a proposed weapons sale to Taiwan following a furious response from China.
The US State Department said on Saturday that the sale contributed to "security and stability" between Taiwan and China, Reuters reported.

Beijing announced a series of moves against the US in retaliation for the proposed $6.4bn (£4bn) sale.
Ties between the two countries are already strained by rows over trade and internet censorship.

Such sales contribute to maintaining security and stability across the Taiwan Strait," said US State Department spokeswoman Laura Tischler, quoted by Reuters.
The US is the leading arms supplier to Taiwan and has a treaty obligation to provide it with defensive arms.

-"Severe harm"-

Beijing said it would suspend military exchanges with the US, review co-operation on major issues and impose sanctions on companies selling arms.
However, the US - like the EU - has banned its companies selling arms to China since the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, so it was not clear what effect Chinese sanctions would have.

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Huang Xueping said the measures reflected the "severe harm" posed by the deal.
A foreign ministry spokesman said the arms deal would have "repercussions that neither side wishes to see".

-"Difficult Ties"-

Taiwan and China have been ruled by separate governments since the end of a civil war in 1949.

Beijing has hundreds of missiles pointed at the island and has threatened to use force to bring it under its control if Taiwan moved towards formal independence.
Defence ties between Washington and Beijing have been on ice for several years because of differences over Taiwan, though the two countries' leaders pledged to improve them in 2009.

Taiwan, meanwhile, welcomed the US move.
................editorial note; pissing contest
-"MORE"-
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8489301.stm
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40 comments // China pissed at $6.4 billion weapons sale to Taiwan

  • ryan8566
  • CarlosIsDown
  • remanns
    • 0
      remanns  

    • We really do have a treaty with Taiwan. Just sayin. We could end or modify the treaty....
      (But you don't F the american indians just because the deal is no longer convenient,....for an example,...and make any claims to honor or integrity.) Anyone remember "Your word is your bond",...and actually give it some weight?

    • 2 years ago
  • dreamcometrieu
  • JanforGore
  • kilo88
  • dalistuff
    • 0
      dalistuff  

    • Although China pretty much owns our tab they should chill out because if we don't make any money from whatever means is necessary how R we going to pay our debt back to them?

    • 2 years ago
  • MoonLoon
    • 0
      MoonLoon  

    • "Jon", has a good point regarding the U.S. using Taiwan to offset China. However, I will argue that China should have no reason to be upset about the arms sales, unless they have a long term strategy in place to undermine Taiwan through intimidation or military force.

    • 2 years ago
  • pissedoffinarkansas
    • 0
      pissedoffinarkansas  
    • MoonLoon:

      " 'jon' has a good point"? Really?! Cause ya know, all the chinese have to do is start selling off their U.S. currency reserves and start a panic sell-off and BANG!! Economic tragedy for us. Don't think they will? Whether right or wrong the Chinese want the dollar removed as the world resrve currency.What better (or faster) way to do it than crash the dollar!! YAAA!! let's piss off the Chinese! Maybe then we can get around to the business of rebuilding our OWN economy and let everyone else do likewise.

    • 2 years ago
  • calm_incense
    • 0
      calm_incense  
    • MoonLoon:

      @ pissedoffinarkansas:

      Ya know, all the Chinese have to do is start selling off their U.S. currency reserves and start a panic sell-off and BANG!! Economic tragedy for China as it loses over a trillion dollars—roughly 60% of its all foreign reserves.

      Please people—for ONCE—just use your brains before typing something out.

    • 2 years ago
  • deezy_duck
  • JonRaymond
    • 0
      JonRaymond  

    • The U.S. government fears China. They have better economic security and are in a position to take control or at least deal with much of the world, while our credit is going down the toilet. Perhaps in the grand tradition of U.S. imperialism we back Taiwan in a play to have them eventually take China in some kind of military revolution, like we've seen in Argentina and Columbia with U.S. backed puppet regimes. It's what we do. The fact that China has a problem with it, supports this theory.

    • 2 years ago
  • phillyphil
    • 0
      phillyphil  

    • umm, excuse me!!

      since when are weapons a way to "improve security." that is the boldest line i have heard. ya, sure, we the great USA, with all our peacekeeping accomplishments (two active wars) are doing the same thing we always do, selling weapons and arming peeps.

      the state department says its for stabilty and peace, are you f'ing kidding me!! how 'bout not agitating countries and working to stop spreading violence?

      how can anyone swallow this shit? more guns do not = stability and security, more guns = false ideas of protection and unnecissary escalation. next step, preemptive wars... that's what we do, but has it worked well in Iraq, Vietnam, and Afghanistan....

      there is a great story from the revolutionary war in the USA. there was a group of quakers that decided that they would not have guns and stay neutral throughout the conflict because they we opposed to war. 2 families felt unsafe, and they armed themselves. after the war was over, only the armed families did not survive.

    • 2 years ago
  • calm_incense
  • phillyphil
    • 0
      phillyphil  
    • phillyphil:

      its called agitation and warmongering.

      i am sure sending some missiles to taiwan is really gonna help them against china. now they will surely be even.... then they can go eye for an eye for one day before china goes full tilt.

      its like the 2nd amendment being a way to stave off our government.... cause .22's will do a good job against blackhawk helicopters.

    • 2 years ago
  • remanns
  • jswiz
    • 0
      jswiz  

    • It would be pretty cool if stuff you bought said made in U.S.A , if things were I'm sure Americans wouldn't be so jobless .

    • 2 years ago
  • JonRaymond
  • calm_incense
  • joyrexj5
  • CalgarC
  • BillionJawingNeurons
  • Guyatthebusstation
    • 0
      Guyatthebusstation  

    • whats fucked with this is that the US will risk relations with china over a sale of arms but refuse to make a stand on their human rights.

      I'm ok with the sale, saladin has good points, but i'm even less satisfied with the stance that we have on their human rights issues. IMHO if they had to pay for some of the standards that we have obtained it would bring the prices on their goods to a competitive level.

      But they are communist.

    • 2 years ago
  • JonRaymond
    • 0
      JonRaymond  
    • Guyatthebusstation:

      Our standards? Like torture? The Patriot Act? Giving corporations the same rights as people? Government corporate welfare? 50 million healthcare uninsured Americans. Preemptive aggression on other countries to colonialize them for oil? Are those the American standards you're thinking of?

    • 2 years ago
  • outtheinside
    • 0
      outtheinside  
    • Guyatthebusstation:

      jon and alex:

      are those the things you think of when you think about the U.S.??

      if it is, then you guys are some narrow minded people because you are BLATANTLY forgetting freedom of speech, religion, prosperity, equity, education, healthcare....

      sure, we're not perfect, but we're pretty damn good.

    • 2 years ago
  • pjacobs51
  • UWAZell
  • CreditFigaro
  • outtheinside
  • CreditFigaro
  • cephas
  • Saladin
    • 0
      Saladin  

    • Oi vei, this is exactly why we shouldn't be running an empire.

      Do we really care about Taiwan? Really? We're allied with China now, we don't need them anymore. It's China we shouldn't be pissing off, considering how much of our debt they own.

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • Like a jilted slave owner . They feel entitled to sell us stuff . though after all the toxic stuff we got from them recently , they got a lot of nerve .

    • 2 years ago
  • jswiz
  • CalgarC
  • JonRaymond
  • outtheinside
  • UWAZell
    • 0
      UWAZell  
    • jswiz:

      Exactly, the US buys more crap from China than any other country. Moreover, it's mainly US owned companies who actually contact with Chinese companies to manufacture products that they then sell to everyone else. The Chinese can't survive without the US public buying power and nothing has made that clearer than the decline of Chinese exports when American's stopped wasting their money on items they didn't need.

      If American's had/developed the type of 'Purchase Nationalism' the Japanese have China would be bankrupt in a year's time... if even.

    • 2 years ago
  • calm_incense
    • 0
      calm_incense  
    • jswiz:

      @outtheinside:

      Main export partners: EU 20.4%, US 17.7%, Hong Kong 13.4%, Japan 8.1%

      Main import partners: Japan 13.3%, EU 11.7%, South Korea 10.9%, Taiwan 9.1%, US 7.2%

      Sorry guys, but America isn't as vital to China as you'd like to think. And as middle classes emerge in both China and India, American consumer will become more and more disposable to an increasingly domestic-oriented market. The Middle Kingdom isn't called the Middle Kingdom for nothing.

    • 2 years ago
  • outtheinside
    • 0
      outtheinside  
    • jswiz:

      @calm_incense

      17% is a huge chunk that i would consider vitally important. on top of that, imports and exports are only a small reason they need us. what does the chinese government do with all of its savings? it's called sterilization. they are part of the global savings glut that forced our interest rates down at the start of the housing collapse. without the u.s.'s bond market (As china doesn't have one), they would have no place to invest their currency for the long-term and keep down their domestic inflation. how much u.s. debt do they own? do you think they do it because they really want to help us out and jeopardize their own economy? they don't just need our market for their exports; they need our economy for their investments.

    • 2 years ago
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