China hits out at US at ‘Security Davos’
MUNICH, Germany, Feb 6, 2010: China’s foreign minister used his
maiden visit to a security conference in Europe Friday to issue a
broadside against US arms sales to Taiwan and to resist US pressure to
get tough on Iran.
The 6.4-billion-dollar deal unveiled last month to sell arms to
Taiwan, which China views as part of its territory, is “obviously a
violation of the code of conduct between nations,” Yang Jiechi said.“We
approached the US side and made a representation very seriously, on many
occasions, yet the US still went ahead with the sale.”“Of course the
Chinese government and the people have to react. It is within its
sovereign right to do what is necessary... I think the Chinese people
and the government of every region should feel indignant about this
thing.”
The spat is one of several issues to have contributed to a worsening
of relations in recent weeks, together with the upcoming White House
visit by the Dalai Lama and cyber attacks on US firms such as
Google.Yang’s comments came on the first day of the Munich Security
Conference in Germany, a 46-year-old gathering dubbed the “Davos of
security policy” after the World Economic Forum held last month at the
Swiss ski resort.The forum brings together some 300 top military,
diplomatic and political figures, traditionally from members of the NATO
military alliance but increasingly from further afield.The minister also
used his keynote speech in his first appearance at Munich to address
another of the many foreign policy headaches facing US President Barack
Obama after a year in office: Iran’s nuclear programme.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this week raised hopes of
progress in the international stand-off over its nuclear activities by
indicating that he might be ready to accept an offer to send some
uranium abroad for enrichment.Doing so would help soothe suspicions that
Iran wanted to arm itself with nuclear weapons, but Western powers fear
that the comments constitute a stalling tactic to head off a fourth
round of sanctions.US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said
clarification was needed from Iran but said Friday that Tehran has
failed to give a proper response to the deal and sanctions should be
studied.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, a surprise visitor to
Munich, told a late-night session that Iran was “serious” about an
exchange and that he believed a deal was close. -AFP
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