China flays US bill backing Japan`s control over ECS islands

China opposed a bill passed by the US Congress to allow arms sales to Taiwan and to back Japan`s administrative control over disputed islands.

China Sunday opposed a bill passed by the US Congress to allow arms sales to Taiwan and to back Japan`s administrative control over disputed islands in the East China Sea, saying Beijing was "deeply concerned" over Washington`s stand on key issues concerning its sovereignty. "China is deeply concerned and firmly opposed to the contents concerning China in the 2013 Defence Authorisation Act," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement here.

The bill which passed USD 633 billion defence budget also asked President Barrack Obama to "take steps to address Taiwan`s shortfall in fighter aircraft, whether through the sale of F-16 C/D aircraft or other aircraft of similar capability." China, which considers Taiwan was part of its territory, opposes any sort of recognition to Taiwan and protests weapons sales to Taipei. The other section of the bill that riled China was the recognition of Japanese administrative control over islands in East China Sea called Diaoyu by Beijing and Senkakus by Tokyo. The bill said, "it is the sense of Congress that" although the US side takes no position on the ultimate sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands, it "acknowledges the administration of Japan" over them. Till September this year, China has not affectively contested Japan`s administrative control over the uninhabited islands stated to be full of natural resources like oil and minerals, even though Beijing has been asserting that the islets are part of its inherent territory. China began sending its surveillance ships to the islands waters challenging Japanese control objecting to Tokyo buying the islands from private owners, which Beijing asserts amounted to nationalising them. Currently, the well armed ships of both the countries jostle with each other all most everyday pronouncing their countries control on them over the loudspeakers but so far avoided any military action. In her statement, Hua said that China holds a clear and consistent position on the Diaoyu Islands issue, reiterating that the island and its affiliated islets have always been the inherent territory of China since ancient times. She referred the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the US and Japan as a "bilateral arrangement in a specific historical time," noting that such a pact should not harm the interests of any third parties including China, nor be involved in any foreign territorial disputes. She also pointed out that China is firmly opposed to arms sales to Taiwan by any country, urging the politicians in the US Congress to abandon their cold war mentality, adhere to the three Sino-US joint communiques and respect China`s key national interests. "They should do more to facilitate regional peace and stability, and help the stable growth of ties between China and the US as well as the ones across the Taiwan Strait," Hua added. It is to be seen whether bill gets the ascent of Obama as the White House has already expressed reservations over certain aspects of it, specially relating to policy regarding detainees. PTI