BEIJING—China's Defense Ministry warned the U.S. that bilateral military relations would face "severe obstacles" as a result of its decision to upgrade Taiwan's fighter jets, but Beijing appeared to have stopped short of suspending defense ties as it did the day after the last arms package was unveiled in January 2010.
The upgrades—which some analysts suggested was a compromise agreed in advance with Beijing—also appeared not to have affected a visit to Beijing by Steven Chu, the U.S. Energy Secretary, who said the issue wasn't raised in his meetings with Chinese officials Thursday. In the past, China has often voiced protests over Taiwan, Tibet and other sensitive issues in meetings not directly related to the subject.
The Obama administration informed Congress Wednesday that it would sell Taiwan $5.3 billion of arms, consisting mainly of upgrades for the island's existing Lockheed Martin F-16 A/B fighter jets rather than the new F-16 C/Ds that it was also seeking.
That prompted some U.S. lawmakers to accuse the White House of placing commercial ties with China—the world's second-largest economy and the biggest holder of U.S. debt—ahead of Washington's legal commitment to help Taiwan defend itself.
The U.S. has tried to stabilize military ties with China since they resumed in January this year, and Chinese experts had predicted that Beijing would stop short of suspending them again if the U.S. didn't cross what they call a "red line" by selling Taiwan the new F-16 C/Ds. Beijing considers Taiwan a rebel province.
China's initial public response matched those predictions. Its Foreign Ministry summoned the new U.S. ambassador, Gary Locke, late on Wednesday to lodge an official protest, according to the Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Embassy.
On Thursday, China's Defense Ministry said in a statement on its website that it had also summoned the acting military attache at the U.S. embassy.
"Rather than working with China to consolidate and expand the positive growth of bilateral military ties, the U.S. again announced plans to sell arms to Taiwan, which will create severe obstacles for normal military-to-military exchanges," the statement quoted Defense Ministry spokesman Geng Yansheng as saying.
"Reality has proved that the United States should be held fully accountable for damaging China-U.S. military relations," he said. The U.S. Embassy confirmed the Defense Ministry summons, but declined to provide details.
Analysts said the U.S. decision might still adversely affect defense exchanges, or other parts of the relationship, especially if Chinese leaders come under pressure internally, or from nationalistic online commentators, to issue a more robust response.
But several analysts said both sides appeared to have agreed in advance on a compromise that would allow them to maintain defense exchanges and avoid another crisis in relations in the sensitive run-up to a Communist Party leadership change in China next year. Vice President Xi Jinping, who is expected to take over as party chief next year and president in 2013, is expected to make his first official visit to the U.S. early next year.
Asked about the Chinese reaction, Denny Roy, a senior fellow and expert on Asian security issues at the East-West Center in Hawaii, said: "I thought it was amazingly mild. It suggests that the U.S. and China have worked out a way of discussing these things in advance."
He and other analysts said the real impact on military ties would become evident in the coming weeks and months, as China and the U.S. are due to hold joint antipiracy exercises in the Gulf of Aden before the end of the year.
The two sides are also due to conduct talks on maritime safety and cooperation at the U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii, as well as senior military medical exchanges in Washington, D.C., Hawaii and Texas, although precise dates haven't been announced.
U.S officials say China confirmed those plans during a visit by Adm. Mike Mullen, the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to Beijing in July, and also committed to future humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exchanges and joint exercises in 2012.
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