中国批评美国对台湾军售 (China Criticizes US Arms Sale to Taiwan)

中国敦促美国取消一宗对台湾的武器销售，并且批评拟议推出的支持台湾加入联合国的法案。中国外交部发言人刘建超星期二督促华盛顿方面遵守减少对台湾提供武器的承诺。他还批评上星期向美国国会一个委员会提交的一项支持台湾加入联合国的法案。

美国国防部官员星期二通知美国国会，可能对台湾出售爱国者导弹防御系统的性能提升装备，总价值达9亿3千9百万美元。五角大楼说，对台湾的武器销售将有助于加强台湾的安全。

China has urged the United States to cancel a proposed arms sale to Taiwan and criticized proposed legislation supporting the island's membership to the United Nations. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao on Tuesday urged Washington to honor its commitment to reduce weapons transfers to Taiwan. He also criticized legislation backing Taiwan's U.N. membership bid presented to a Congressional committee last week.

U.S. Defense Department officials informed lawmakers Tuesday of the possible sale of a Patriot missile defense system upgrade worth up to 939 million dollars. The Pentagon says the weapons sale will help strengthen Taiwan's security.

美民主党人称伊阿战争隐含费用是公布数字两倍 (US Democrats Say Hidden Costs Double Price of Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan)

美国国会民主党人士说，伊拉克和阿富汗战争的费用估计总计为1万6千亿美元，比白宫迄今为止所要求的战争拨款几乎多出一倍。美国国会参众两院经济事务联合委员会中的民主党籍议员星期二发布一份报告，列出了他们称这两大战争一些“隐含费用”。

白宫女发言人佩里诺星期二对媒体说，这篇报告有政治目的，是试图贬低正在从伊拉克传出的积极进展消息。美国总统布什星期二在一次演讲中要求国会批准他提出的在圣诞节之前向伊拉克战争追加500亿美元开支的要求。

众议院民主党籍议员正准备讨论一项法案，准备提供这笔战争拨款，但前提是白宫方面同意在30天内开始将美军撤出伊拉克，并以2008年12月15日之前从伊拉克撤出大部分美军作战部队为目标。

U.S. congressional Democrats say the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan is estimated to total 1.6 trillion dollars, nearly twice the amount requested by the White House so far. Democrats on the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee released a report Tuesday outlining what they called the "hidden costs" of the two conflicts.

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Tuesday told the media the report has political motivations and is an attempt to discount positive developments being reported out of Iraq. During a speech Tuesday, President Bush called on Congress to grant his request for 50 billion dollars in additional Iraq spending before Christmas.

House Democrats are preparing to discuss legislation that would grant that funding in exchange for an agreement to start redeploying U.S. forces from Iraq within 30 days, with the goal of pulling most combat troops out by December 15th of 2008.