U.S. arms sale to Taiwan irks China

The announced sale of advanced Patriot air defense missiles to Taiwan by Lockheed Martin, an advanced American technology company with worldwide interests, has caused a stir in China’s capital Beijing which considers Taiwan a breakaway province and does not recognize it as a sovereign nation.

“China firmly opposes and is strongly dissatisfied with arms sales to Taiwan by the United States,” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu told the state-run Xinhua news agency.

China said that if the deal pushes through, it will surely weaken Sino-U.S. cooperation resulting to severe consequences of the two nation’s bilateral relationship. China is certain to retaliate for what they consider an unprincipled deal.

The sale happens to be part of a wide ranging $6.5-billion arms package approved under former President George W. Bush in late 2008.

[via cnn.com Image Source: AFP/Getty Images]