China urges US to revoke decision of arms sales to Taiwan

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi on Monday reaffirmed Chinas position on the United States arms sales to Taiwan, urging the U.S. to immediately correct its error by revoking its arms sales decision.Yang made the remarks when meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton here on the sidelines of the general debate at the UN General Assembly. Chinese Ambassador to the U.S. Zhang Yesui, Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations Li Baodong, Untied States UN envoy Susan Rice and the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Esther Brimmer attended the meeting.Yang said the wrong decision by the U.S. gravely violated the principles of the three Sino-U.S. joint communiques and August 17 Communique, grossly interfered in Chinas internal affairs and seriously undermined Chinas security, its endeavor to achieve peaceful reunification and the China-U.S. relations.Regardless of Chinas repeated solemn representation, the U.S. administration announced last Wednesday a new arms package worth 5.852 billion U.S. dollars to Taiwan, which included the so-called upgrading of F-16A/B fighter jets.Clinton said the U.S. is firmly committed to expanding, deepening and enhancing positive, comprehensive and cooperative relations with China.The US adheres to one China policy and pays much attention to and seriously treat Chinas position and concerns about the US arms sale to Taiwan, she said.They also exchanged views on other issues of China-U.S. relations as well as current international and regional concerns. They both agreed to work together to make a success of the upcoming G20 summit, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) informal leaders meeting and East Asia Summit with a view to promoting world economic recovery and cooperation in the Asia- Pacific and eastern Asian region.Moreover, the two countries also agreed to strengthen communication and coordination, making due contributions to maintain world peace and promote common development.Later on the same day, Yang also met with Arab League (AL) Secretary General Nabil al-Arabi and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle respectively in New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly.