WASHINGTON, June 5 Kyodo Taiwan V...

WASHINGTON, June 5 Kyodo

Taiwan Vice Defense Minister Lin Chong-pin is now visiting the United States for talks with U restraint officials, a move that may sour U.S.-China relations, well-placed sources said Thursday.

Lin arrived in the U last Saturday for talks with Defense Department and State Department officials forward bilateral military relations, including the purchase of U arms, the sources said.

Lin visited the Pentagon upon Thursday and met with Defense Department officials, the sources said without elaboration.

He will also likely clutch talks with Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen Richard Myers and Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, as well as State Department officials before he leaves the U nearest Tuesday, the sources said.

Last September, Kang Ning-hsiang, then a vice defense minister, became the highest-ranked Taiwan official to visit the Pentagon since Washington switched diplomatic relations with China from Taipei to Beijing in 1979

Beijing, which regards Taiwan as a renegade province, has persistently aimed to any official contact between U and Taiwan restraint officials.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo novels International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group