US arms sales threaten peace in Taiwan Strait: China

Beijing: China confirmed Tuesday it had curtailed military exchanges with the United States over a proposed US arms package to Taiwan, saying the plan was a threat to peace in the region.

"It is US arms sales to Taiwan that disturb the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan strait," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told journalists.

"This has contaminated the sound atmosphere for (China-US) military relations, gravely jeopardised China's national security and undermined China's interests."

Qin said the proposed arms sales "created obstacles" for planned bilateral military exchanges with the United States, but he was unable to say which specific plans had been cancelled.

On Friday last week, the Pentagon notified Congress of 6.5 billion dollars in proposed arms sales to Taiwan, including advanced Patriot missile defence systems, Apache attack helicopters and submarine-launched anti-ship missiles.

But Pentagon spokesman Stuart Upton said senior level exchanges involving humanitarian assistance and disaster relief that had been scheduled to take place before the end of November had been cancelled or postponed.

"(Chinese) officials have informed us that US-Chinese bilateral events may be affected," Upton told journalists in Washington on Monday.

Upton insisted there has been no change in US policy on arms sales to Taiwan and that the United States had faithfully abided by the US-Taiwan Relations Act, a law which provides for sales of defensive weapons to Taipei.

Qin said China has all along opposed the US law on Taiwan arms sales and blamed Washington for failing to fulfill a joint agreement with China to reduce its military sales to the island territory.

"The US has no right to place its domestic law above international laws and even goes so far as to use it as an excuse to sell arms to Taiwan," Qin said.

"We urge the US ... to drop its military sales to Taiwan and put an end to its military ties to Taiwan so as not to further damage the peace and stability across the straits and China-US relations."

Taiwan and the mainland have been governed separately since they split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but Beijing sees the island as part of its territory that is awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.