China threatens U.S. with sanctions over Taiwan arms

[NNN0LHI]

http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE60T0Q020100130

(Reuters)

30 January 2010, 6:16 PMBEIJING - China threatened to impose sanctions on U.S. arms firms and cut cooperation with Washington unless it cancels a $6.4 billion arms sale to Taiwan, in an unprecedented move signalling Beijing’s growing global power.

China on Saturday bitterly denounced the Obama administration’s announcement a day earlier that it wanted to sell the package of weapons to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing views as an illegitimate breakaway state.

The dispute deepens the rifts between Beijing and Washington, already at odds over trade, currency, Tibet and the Internet.

Beijing said it would formally sanction U.S. companies that sold arms to Taiwan, a break with past practice. Previously, China’s commercial reprisals have been informal. snip

The Obama administration told the U.S. Congress on Friday of the proposed sales, which include Black Hawk helicopters, Patriot “Advanced Capability-3” anti-missile missiles and two refurbished Osprey-class mine-hunting ships. snip

The Black Hawk, a tactical transport helicopter, is built by Sikorsky Aircraft, a unit of United Technologies Corp. The Patriot missile is built by Lockheed Martin Corp, and Raytheon Co is the system integrator.

“China will also impose corresponding sanctions on U.S. companies that engage in weapons sales to Taiwan,” the Foreign Ministry said, without naming any firms.

[AndyA]

1. America can thank Bush and the GOP for this.

President George W. Bush, in addition to being a war mongering criminal, was also a pimp. And the United States was his whore, sold piece by piece to whatever country had the cash.

Borrow money to start wars based on lies? No big deal, China has tons of money.

Outsource American jobs to other countries? No big deal, we don't need jobs in America, we're a consumer-oriented society.

Import tons of cheap, unsafe foreign goods from China? Sure, why not? Americans love themselves some bargains, even if it does mean lost jobs.

And now that China owns so much of the country, they are going to flex their muscles a little bit and start telling us how we should run things around here.

Thanks, George Bush and the Republican Party. You want to talk about terrorism? Well, there's your terrorists right there: one need look no further than the right wing who ran this country into the ground between 2001-2008.

[1awake]

2. I think Obama took away

the F-16's and the Diesel sub's that were what Taiwan really wanted, and were the bigger concerns for China... we will see.

[tsstranger]

3. Sanctions? Fine.

Tell China to kiss of the money we owe them, and to keep their cheap crap that they import to the US. Try to sell it somewhere else.

[NNN0LHI]

5. Do you think someone else would be in a hurry to lend us some money if we began defaulting?

I'm a little worried about that.

Don

[FarCenter]

4. This should be particularly interesting for United Technologies

They'll have to decide whether they want to sell Sikorsky helicopters to Taiwan or Otis elevators, Carrier air conditioning, and Pratt and Whitney commercial jet engines to China.