US urged to repair military ties, stop selling weapons to Taiwan

China yesterday urged the US to take concrete steps to put bilateral military ties back on track after relations were derailed because of Pentagon's arms sales to Taiwan last year.

The Barack Obama administration should clear the way for improved military ties, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.

Announcing the publication of the sixth defense white paper since 1998, Hu Changming told a news briefing: "The US president-elect Obama will take office in a few hours and current US Defense Secretary Robert Gates will keep his job ... At present, when bilateral military ties face difficulties, we urge the US Defense Department to remove obstacles and take action to create favorable conditions for the healthy development of ties."