U.S. rep to Taiwan defiant against China's warning on arms sales

Jun 26 09:15 AM US/Eastern

TAIPEI, June 26 (AP) - (Kyodo) — The top U.S. representative to Taiwan remained defiantly against China on the issue of U.S. arms sales to Taipei on Friday, just days after China's top envoy to Taiwan Wang Yi visited Washington and warned U.S. leaders about selling weapons to the island.

Wang reiterated Beijing's position on arms sales in visits with top U.S. officials, lawmakers and experts from June 18 to 24, the duration of his U.S. tour, China's state-run Xinhua News Agency reported Friday.

Director of China's Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council, Wang met Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, National Security Advisor Jeffrey Bader, and other U.S. officials and lawmakers, the agency said.

But even as Wang warned against further U.S. arms deals, Stephen Young, director of the American Institute of Taiwan, the de facto U.S. diplomatic mission in Taipei in the absence of official ties, sounded a note of defiance, saying the United States does "not consult with Beijing on our security cooperation or our arms decisions involving Taiwan."

"The decisions themselves will be made by Washington under that framework at a time and in a nature that reflects our own national interests as well as our commitments to Taiwan," Young told a Taipei press conference, referring to the Taiwan Relations Act, 1979 U.S. legislation requiring Washington to provide defensive weapons to Taiwan.

China opposes U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, which Beijing claims as its own despite the fact the island has been self-governed since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

For its part, the United States is legally obligated to assist the de facto independent island in maintaining a credible defense in the face of Chinese threats and deployment of missiles and other hardware.

Beijing has vowed to unify Taipei with the mainland, by force if necessary, and deploys some 1,500 ballistic and cruise missiles against the island, according to Taiwan's military.

China has said it would attack the island should it formalize its sovereignty.

Last year, a planned $6.5 billion arms sale from Washington to Taipei riled Beijing, which briefly suspended bilateral military exchanges with Washington in retaliation.

Currently, Taipei seeks to convince Washington to sell it 66 F-16C/D fighter jets to bolster the island's aging military.

Young said the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama "will be continuing to look closely into this whole question" of Taiwan's request for the jets.

He did not elaborate.