A US envoy left China on Wednesday after a fruitless bid to win support for President Bush's missile defense plans and with scathing accusations of anti-China "provocations" ringing in his ears.
The Bush administration decision to let Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian meet US lawmakers when he transits in the US next week was a "despicable breach of trust and commitment," the official English-language China Daily newspaper said.
"Allowing Chen to stay in the United States and meet US lawmakers is the latest example in a growing list of US provocations directed at China," the Communist Party paper said in an editorial.
Assistant Secretary of State James Kelly said in a departure statement that his talks on Tuesday were "constructive," but implied -- as the Chinese Foreign Ministry had made plain -- there was no meeting of minds.
"Although we clearly still have differences of opinion, our consultations on this subject were constructive and constitute a good beginning to what both sides agreed would be a continuing dialogue on these important security issues," Kelly said -- BEIJING (Reuters)
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
