Panetta praises China for 'professional and diplomatic' response to US arms sale to Taiwan
US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta is praising China for what he calls its ``professional and diplomatic'' response to the US announcement last month of a nearly $6 billion arms sale to Taiwan, which will upgrade its F-16 fighter jets.
China denounced the United States on Friday for an arms sales deal with Taiwan involving advanced Patriot air defense missiles, urging Washington to ''respect China's core interests and immediately withdraw related arms sales items.