The United States began putting up a military barrier in the 1950s, when its Seventh Fleet sailed into the Taiwan Straits. Recently, the US government agreed on a billions-US dollars worth package of arms sale to Taiwan, including four Kidd-class destroyers, eight diesel-powered submarines and 12 P-3C submarine- hunting planes.

Over the past five decades, the United States has been working hard to erect a dangerous military barrier against peace across the Taiwan Straits, the commentary said.

Xinhua criticized the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, saying that it violates international law and agreements made with China.

According to the US-China Joint Communique signed on August 17, 1982, the United States was supposed to halt its arms sales to Taiwan long ago, but it sold to Taiwan 150 F-16 fighter jets worth US$6 billion in September 1992, and advanced weapons worth US$1.87 billion in three batches of arms sales in 2000.

The US arms sales to Taiwan over the past five decades are intentionally hostile activities,carried out in the teeth of opposition by China, the commentary stressed. During that period, Taiwan received 95 percent of its new arms from the United States.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties with China 21 years ago, the United States has sold arms to Taiwan in 47 deals with a total value of over US$40 billion.

US arms sales indicate that long-term separation and confrontation are part of the US global strategy and complies with its own interests.

The US arms sales to Taiwan are neither legal nor reasonable, Xinhua commented, noting that for years the Chinese government and people have been handling Sino-US relations in accordance with international norms and laws, but China's appeals, based on peace, reason and justice, have never met with a reasonable response.

China is longing for peace, and the Chinese nation has never been aggressive, the commentary stressed. It explained that the Chinese government's refusal to promise to abandon the use of force is in response to brutal interference by foreign forces.

It reiterated the Chinese government's basic policies of " Peaceful Reunification and One Country, Two Systems" and its repetitive calls for holding cross-Straits negotiations based on the One-China Principle.

The long-time confrontation across the Taiwan Straits has hurt Chinese people on both sides of the Straits, as well as the American people, Xinhua said. The annual Sino-US trade volume has approached 100 billion US dollars-worth, it said.

War is a double-edged sword, as anyone who triggers a war will be the greatest loser, the Xinhua commentary warned.

(Xinhua 04/28/2001)