US urged to drop Taiwan arms sales

Deal could be a hard blow to China-US relations, say analysts

Despite repeated protests from Beijing, senior US congressional aides said yesterday that the White House has been consulting with Congress ahead of a formal announcement of a massive arms deal with Taiwan, severely testing its relations with China.

US analysts say the deal is inevitable, but argue Washington can minimize the harm to China-US relations by rearranging the timing. Chinese experts also believe that the deal could not have come at a worse time.