Beijing furious at arms sale

US' $6.4b deal with Taiwan puts at risk cooperation with Washington

In its toughest response in three decades to US arms sales to Taiwan, Beijing announced over the weekend that it would curtail military exchanges with Washington, and sanction US companies involved, and warned of severe harm to bilateral ties.

Though overall relations between the two world powers are unlikely to collapse over the single issue, Chinese experts said, their cooperation on key international matters such as those related to Iran, Afghanistan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) could be severely impacted.