cryptogon.com

Rear Admiral Yang Yi told the Herald yesterday China was prepared to hurt itself in order to teach the administration a lesson.

”We’re waiting for the reaction from US Congress and if they don’t have a U-turn then the follow-up of sanctions will come soon,” said Admiral Yang, who previously co-wrote Chinese defence white papers while director of international strategic studies at the National Defence University.

”We are clear this action will harm ourselves but we don’t care,” he said. ”We are going to give a lesson to the US government that harming others will harm yourself. This will not only affect Boeing but all companies involved in this.”

The theme of teaching the US a lesson has emerged in China since it strengthened its economic and strategic standing after the global financial crisis. Last month China’s climate change ambassador, Yu Qingtai, told the Herald that ”the key lesson” developed countries should learn from his team’s aggressive diplomacy at Copenhagen was that China could not be pushed around.

Yesterday China opened up yet another challenge to President Barack Obama warning that he would ”threaten trust and co-operation” between the two countries if he met with the Dalai Lama.

On Friday the administration presented Congress with its first weapons sale package to Taiwan.

Chinese trade sanctions against companies involved in the sales could trigger counter-measures from the US under World Trade Organisation rules. Or it could cause US companies, perhaps including Boeing, to lobby the US Congress to dilute the Taiwan arms package – which would be a milestone in China’s rising economic and diplomatic power.