China warns US, Japan to keep Taiwan out of military pact

BEIJING (AFP) — China warned the United States and Japan against including Taiwan in their military pact, while also seeking to calm fears that the lifting of an EU arms embargo would lead to an attack against the island.

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said Beijing sought better ties with both Washington and Tokyo -- China's two largest trading partners -- but he warned increasing US-Japan military cooperation should be strictly bilateral and not encompass Beijing's arch-rival Taiwan.

"Any part of putting Taiwan directly or indirectly into the scope of Japan-US security cooperation constitutes an encroachment on China's sovereignty and interference in China's internal affairs," Li said.

"The Chinese government and people are firmly against such activities."

During a wide-ranging press conference on the sidelines of the National People's Congress, Li characterized the military alliance between Japan and the United States as a "bilateral arrangement" that came about during the Cold War.

Any expansion of such a relationship, Li warned, could cause problems in the region.