The Corner Report

China says the deal 'seriously endangers' its national security and reunification efforts with Taiwan [EPA]

Beijing has suspended military exchanges with the US over Washington's plan to sell arms to Taiwan, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The decision was announced on Saturday, just hours after the US was cautioned that its decision to sell $6.4bn worth of weapons to Taiwan would cause "serious damage" to relations and co-operation between the two nations.

He Yafei, the Chinese vice-foreign minister, told Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador to China, that the arms deal could jeopardise bonds with Washington.

The sale "constitutes a gross intervention into China's internal affairs, seriously endangers China's national security and harms China's peaceful reunification efforts", Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, quoted He as saying.

"The US plan will definitely undermine China-US relations and bring about serious negative impact on exchange and co-operation in major areas between the two countries."

Baodong said China "strongly urges the US side to fully recognise the gravity of the issue, revoke the erroneous decision on arms sales to Taiwan and stop selling any weapons to Taiwan".

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China says the deal 'seriously endangers' its national security and reunification efforts with Taiwan [EPA]

Beijing has suspended military exchanges with the US over Washington's plan to sell arms to Taiwan, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

The decision was announced on Saturday, just hours after the US was cautioned that its decision to sell $6.4bn worth of weapons to Taiwan would cause "serious damage" to relations and co-operation between the two nations.

He Yafei, the Chinese vice-foreign minister, told Jon Huntsman, the US ambassador to China, that the arms deal could jeopardise bonds with Washington.

The sale "constitutes a gross intervention into China's internal affairs, seriously endangers China's national security and harms China's peaceful reunification efforts", Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in Washington, quoted He as saying.

"The US plan will definitely undermine China-US relations and bring about serious negative impact on exchange and co-operation in major areas between the two countries."

Baodong said China "strongly urges the US side to fully recognise the gravity of the issue, revoke the erroneous decision on arms sales to Taiwan and stop selling any weapons to Taiwan".

=> Read more!

By Pepe Escobar

BEIJING - For all the rhapsodies on the advent of the New Silk Road, it may have come into effect for good last week, when China and Central Asia got together to open a crucial Pipelineistan node linking Turkmenistan to China's Xinjiang.

By 2013, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Hong Kong will be cruising to ever more dizzying heights courtesy of gas supplied by the 1,833-kilometer Central Asia Pipeline from Turkmenistan - operating at full capacity. The pipeline will even help China achieve its goals in terms of curbing carbon emissions.

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