Chinese top legislature bashes U.S. planned arms sales to Taiwan

IJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- China's National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, on Saturday voiced strong protest against Washington's plan to sell a package of arms worth about 6.4 billion U.S. dollars to Taiwan, urging the U.S. side to immediately withdraw the wrong decision.

The U.S. government announced the plan "in disregard of the strong opposition and repeated representations from the Chinese side," said a leading official of the NPC Foreign Affairs Committee.

"We are firmly opposed to that (the plan), and has lodged severe representations to the U.S. side," the official said.

Such a move is gravely against the three joint communiques between China and the United States, especially the "Aug. 17" communique, in which the United States promised not to seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, and intended to gradually reduce arms sales to the island.

The plan endangers China's national security and efforts for peaceful reunification. It also harms Sino-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. "The Chinese people are strongly indignant about it," the official said.

The arms package would include 114 Patriot (PAC-3) anti-missile systems, 60 UH-60M Black Hawk helicopters, 12 Harpoon Block II Telemetry missiles, 2 Osprey Class mine hunting ships and a command and control enhancement system, according to a Pentagon website.