EU snubs Rice to lift China
arms embargo
The Independent
By Stephen Castle in Brussels
10 February 2005
The European Union said yesterday it was moving ahead
with plans to lift an arms embargo on China despite hearing a
raft of reservations from the new American Secretary of State,
Condoleezza Rice.
Ms Rice made clear her continuing objections to normalising
arms sales with Beijing yesterday during a visit to Brussels.
However, she avoided a direct clash on the issue and hinted that
a compromise could yet be found.
The European Commission president, Jose Manuel Barroso, said:
"We are moving towards lifting the arms embargo. The European
Union cannot be accused of rushing into this."
Behind the scenes, officials are working on a mechanism by
which Washington can be consulted on sensitive exports before
licences are granted. The EU also wants to toughen a code of
conduct governing all arms sales to limit the type of weapons
exported. This would probably include a special monitoring system
to be applied to countries to which embargos had recently been
applied, such as China.
The issue has been on the table since 2003 but it has been the
cause of growing transatlantic tension as the EU side made clear
its desire to end the measures before July of this year. They
were originally imposed after the massacre in Tiananmen Square in
1989.
Yesterday, Ms Rice gave a diplomatic response to questions on
the embargo, arguing that problems remained but that the EU was
taking on board US concern. She said she was not sure where the
discussions "will come out". Ms Rice appreciates the strength of
opposition in the US Congress to a European move to relax
measures against the Beijing government. Nearing the end of a
week-long diplomatic tour of Europe, she was anxious to stress
the improvement in transatlantic relations and told journalists:
"I really have to underscore how much the Europeans have tried to
take account of our concerns; how good the discussions have
been."
But she pointed out that 2,000 people who were arrested after
Tiananmen Square were still being detained, and that the US was
worried about "the military balance in that region", where
American troops are stationed. She said: "We have concerns about
technology and technology transfer."
Even the UK, traditionally the US's closest ally, expects the
embargo to be lifted; but Poland yesterday suggested that it
might seek to slow down the move after pressure was exerted from
Washington.
Beijing has lobbied hard for the embargo to be lifted, arguing
that it places China in a category of pariah states such as North
Korea and Zimbabwe. Its case has been backed by Paris and Berlin,
both of which wish to improve the West's strategic relationship
with China.
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