China is firmly opposed to US weapons sales to its diplomatic arch-rival Taiwan, Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said on Wednesday moments before meeting America's top general.
China hailed the visit by Air Force General Richard Myers, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, as a sign military ties are returning to normal nearly three years after the collision of a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter.
It also gave Myers a tour of the headquarters of its secretive space programme - the first time a foreign delegation has been taken to the mission control centre in Beijing.
But the foreign minister's comments highlighted the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue in Sino-US relations.
China, which views Taiwan as a renegade province to be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary, appreciated recent US comments against unilateral moves to alter the "status quo" across the Taiwan Straits, Li said.
"But in the meantime, we firmly oppose any arms sales by the United States to Taiwan," he told reporters.
Chinese Defence Minister Cao Gangchuan broke the ice in a visit to the United States in October.
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