Taiwan on Saturday welcomed the US approval of an arms' sale to Taipei, calling it the start of a new era of Taiwan-US mutual trust, DPA reported. "President Ma Ying-jeou thanks President Bush for honoring the Taiwan Relations Act. The announcement indicates the end of eight years of troubled ties and the start of the new era of security and peace and Taiwan-US mutual trust," Ma's spokesman Wang Yu-chi told a news conference. "Buying defensive arms from the US is not only essential for Taiwan's defence, but can also reduce the chance of misjudgment of the situation in the Taiwan Strait, can promote cross-strait peace, and is conducive to stability in East Asia," he said. The US move drew a prompt protest from China, which regards Taiwan as its breakaway province and sees a US arms sale to Taiwan as encouraging Taiwan to seek formal independence from China. China's Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei summoned the charge d'affaires of the US embassy to the foreign ministry, to lodge a strong protest over the US plan to sell arms to Taiwan.
