US Doesn't Expect Quick EU Move On China Arms Embargo

DRAGON SPACE

China Steps Up Pressure On EU To Lift Arms Embargo
Beijing (AFP) Jun 14, 2005 - China stepped up pressure on the European Union Tuesday to lift its 16-year-old arms embargo, saying that the ban is a political obstacle to better relations.

"The Chinese side has asked to remove the embargo with the aim at removing political discrimination against China and removing a political barrier to the development of bilateral relations," foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said.

"We hope that the the EU will demonstrate the political wisdom and remove this political barrier to our relations as soon as possible. This will not only benefit China, but the EU side as well."

Led by France and Germany, European leaders last December had instructed EU foreign ministers to draft an accord on removing the embargo by the end of June.

However, strident opposition by the United States and an anti-secessionist law passed by China in March that opens the way for a military takeover of Taiwan has appeared to halt efforts to do away with the ban.

In late March, Luxembourg's junior foreign minister Nicolas Schmit, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said it would not be possible to remove the ban by June 30.

He cited varying degrees of opposition from several countries including Britain, Sweden, Belgium and Italy.

Liu reiterated Beijing's position that it was not interested in buying weapons from Europe, but was only seeking respect as a "cooperative partner" of the EU.

"We are not aiming at importing arms from the EU, as strategic cooperative partners we hope that on the basis of equality and mutual respect to further our relations with the EU and we hope the EU will honor its political commitments and remove the arms embargo," he said.

Washington (AFP) Jun 14, 2005
Prospects of the European Union lifting its arms embargo on China are still alive but no decision is expected anytime soon, a senior US official said here Tuesday.

The official, who asked not to be named, told a background briefing the United States and the EU had agreed to discuss the issue within broader strategic talks on security in Asia.

"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," he said.

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

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 US official said that since then, Washington and its European allies had launched a senior-level strategic dialogue on approaches to China and the rest of Asia.

"We had approached the issue of the embargo in the wrong order," he said. "I think we needed to have a strategic discussion first, so the US and Europe could develop similar views and a similar basis for discussing policy."

The official acknowledged European governments had not changed their public position about lifting the embargo, which the Americans fear would send the wrong message on human rights and alter the Asian military equation.

But he added, "We do not have the sense that the EU is hell bent on a decision in the immediate term. They seemed committed to have a strategic dialogue which is serious. ... On that we agree and that is in process."

The official said the embargo issue was likely to resurface at some point. "But I hope that by the time this comes on the agenda we will have developed our thinking and can see the embargo in a wholly new context."

He spoke as Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao stepped up pressure on the EU to lift the weapons ban.

"We hope that the EU will demonstrate the political wisdom and remove this political barrier to our relations as soon as possible. This will not only benefit China, but the EU side as well."

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UAV NEWS

US Raises Concerns About Israeli Military Sales To China

Washington (AFP) Jun 13, 2005
The United States has raised concerns with Israel about its sales and transfer of military equipment and technology to China, a Pentagon spokesman said Monday.

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