EU Keeps On Hold Plans To Lift China Arms Ban

SINO DAILY

European leaders, in an initiative led by France and Germany, agreed in December to draft an accord on scrapping the embargo imposed ater the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre of pro-democracy students in Beijing.

Brussels (AFP) Jun 15, 2005
The EU is not yet ready to lift an arms embargo on China, although that remains its eventual aim, an official said Wednesday, citing notably concerns over human rights and Beijing's anti-secession law.

The official also underlined the importance of the views of the EU's "strategic partners" in any decision. The United States, which is to hold a summit with the European Union next week, fiercely opposes lifting the EU ban.

But the move lost steam amid fierce opposition from the United States and China's controversial move to pass a law that could open the way for a military takeover of Taiwan.

The EU official reiterated that the bloc is committed to "move towards a lifting of the China arms embargo," and said technical work to set up alternative measures to replace the arms embargo had been agreed.

"But clearly the political conditions the EU has put forward have not been met by China in terms of the human rights conditions ... but also in view of the questions linked to the anti-secession law," he said.

"In addition we have also said that the strategic interests of our partners play a very important role."

The comments came after a US official, speaking ahead of the EU-US summit next Monday in Washington, said the US administration does not expect an EU decision on the China arms embargo soon.

"If I said it (the lifting of the arms embargo) were a dead letter I would be instantly contradicted by some of my European friends. But I don't expect that the EU is going to lift it anytime soon," said the US official.

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