Policical experts question US arms sale to Taiwan

BEIJING - Political experts across the world have pointed to the negative impacts of the 1.83-billion-US-dollar arms sale by the US to Taiwan on its relations with China.

Washington made such announcement under the guidance of its policy of pivot to Asia and over anxiety of warming relations across the Taiwan Straits, said the experts.

Any delivery of weapons to Taiwan is perceived in China as interference in its internal affairs, said Igor Denisov, senior research fellow at the center for East Asian Studies and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization at Moscow State Institute of International Relations.

"This is a fair position, as virtually the entire world, and the United States in particular, recognize that Taiwan is part of China and China's sovereignty over the island," he said.

Denisov said the move has been in line with Barack Obama administration's "needs to confirm the announced policy of turning to Asia."

For Vasily Kashin, senior research fellow at the Moscow-based Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, the United States is "seeking to improve the military capacities of Taiwan. And this is an important point in their policy of containing China."

Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, senior advisor to finance minister of Sri Lanka, said if not for the arms sale package to Taiwan, the China-US relationship could have ended stronger and positive at the year end.

The case is especially so after Chinese President Xi Jinping's successful state visit in September to the US, when the two sides discussed new models for their relations and after some positive improvements in cyber security issues, said Abeyagoonasekera.

"This move will put lots of hard work done in the entire year toward strengthening relationship between the US and China to a serious tension on the cross-Strait peace development at the beginning of 2016," said the advisor.

The arms sale came against the background of severe differences between China and the United States over the issue of South China Sea, as well as tough stances of both Democratic and Republican parties on China as the elections in the US draw near, said Lee Chih Horng, research fellow with the Longus Research Institute in Singapore.

"This is something Washington is not willing to see," said Lee, adding that it hopes to "hold Taiwan back from the current trend by the arms sale."

The US State Department on Wednesday notified Congress of a 1.83-billion-dollar deal on arms sale to Taiwan. Under the deal, the US will sell to Taiwan two Perry-class guided-missile frigates, anti-tank missiles, AAV-7 Amphibious Assault Vehicles, Stinger surface-to-air missiles and other military equipment.

China's Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang on Wednesday summoned Kaye Lee, charge d'affaires of the US embassy in China, and made solemn representations to the United States over the arms sale.

China also announced sanctions against the companies involved in the arms sale.