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US violated China's sovereignty: Wen Jiabao

AFP

China’s Premier Wen Jiabao gestures as he answers a question during his annual press conference after the closing of the National People’s Congress held at the Great Hall of the People on 14 March 2010 in Beijing, China.Getty Images/Feng Li/China

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said Sunday that the United States violated Beijing’s sovereignty by selling arms to Taiwan and welcoming the Dalai Lama to the White House.

Wen said the two moves had caused “serious disturbances” in Sino-US relations, which are also strained over a series of trade disputes, the value of the yuan and Internet freedom.

Washington in January approved the sale of 6.4 billion dollars in arms to self-ruled Taiwan, which China sees as part of its territory awaiting reunification.

Last month, US President Barack Obama met the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, at the White House. Beijing says the Buddhist monk is bent on independence for the Himalayan region, a charge he denies.

“These moves violated China’s sovereignty,” Wen told a press conference at the Great Hall of the People at the end of the country’s annual session of parliament.

He reiterated China’s position that responsibility for the problems in Sino-US relations did not lie with Beijing, but with Washington.

“We hope the US will face the issues squarely and take concrete steps” to remedy the situation, he said.

“A peaceful US-China relationship makes both countries winners,” Wen told reporters.

Earlier at the national parliamentary session Wen had said he hoped one day to visit Taiwan.

“Differences between brothers cannot sever their blood ties and I believe that problems will eventually be solved,” Wen told a press conference at the end of China’s annual session of parliament.

“I still cherish a very strong wish to visit Taiwan one day,” he added, noting that 5,000 years of shared culture and history should not be swept away because of “political developments” over the past 60 years.

Copyright © 2010 AFP

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