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US anger at Israeli arms sales

Mr Cohen also made a proposed US military assistance package, which is estimated at $17bn, was conditional on Israel and Syria reaching a comprehensive peace agreement.

He is in Israel for just 24 hours as part of a regional tour.

Mr Cohen's talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak were supposed to be a general look at the US-Israeli strategic relationship.

'Counterproductive'

Mr Cohen's criticism of Israel was unusually strong and clear.

"With tensions running as high as they are between China and Taiwan we see this as being counterproductive," Mr Cohen said at a joint news conference with Mr Barak.

"I have indicated before that the US does not support the sale of this type of technology to China because of the potential of changing the strategic balance in that region," Mr Cohen said.

According to reports, China and Israel have recently agreed the sale of an AWACS radar system mounted on a Russian-made cargo plane by the state-owned Israel Aircraft Industries corporation. The deal is reported to be worth $250m.

Mr Barak said Israel was aware of US sensitivities on the issue, but gave no indication that the deal would be cancelled.

China and Israel only established diplomatic ties in 1992, although military co-operation is believed to have begun secretly at least a decade earlier. BBC defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus says the indications are that the Israelis will ultimately bow to US pressure, aware of how much their own military modernisation efforts depend upon US support.

Conditional military aid

Mr Cohen and Mr Barak were supposed to be holding talks about the strategic relationship between Israel and the US.

One of the main areas of this discussion was expected to be the details of a security package which would be linked to any peace deal with Syria submitted by Israeli military planners to Washington.

The requested package is thought to include US Tomahawk cruise missiles - though reports suggest Washington is far from convinced that Israel needs these highly accurate weapons.

Mr Cohen made it clear that this package was conditional on Israel and Syria reaching a comprehensive peace agreement.

Syria and Israel are currently deadlocked over the terms of an Israeli pull-out from the Golan Heights.