A French bid to lift the EU's arms embargo on China by April 1 was rebuffed by the bloc's foreign ministers on Monday due to concerns about the country's human rights record.
The ministers agreed only to reconsider the ban -- imposed after the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing's Tiananmen Square -- at a future meeting.
The EU enjoyed a trade surplus with China at the beginning of the 1980s, but it now has a large and widening deficit which stood at around 47 billion euros (US$59.15 billion) in 2002.
Ending the arms embargo could open up lucrative trade opportunities with the world's fastest-growing major economy.
France's push, which coincided with a visit to Paris by Chinese President Hu Jintao (
"Do European governments want to risk having blood on their hands by allowing European weapons to be used against civilians in any future crackdown?" Graham Watson said in a statement.
"A desire to curry favor with the Chinese president during his state visit to France is no excuse for rethinking a long-standing European policy rooted in principle," he said.
France argues that the ban is "anachronistic" given the improved relations between Beijing and the EU and sits oddly with weapons embargoes imposed by the bloc on only three other nations -- Myanmar, Sudan and Zimbabwe.
"China is now a special partner ... playing a key and responsible role in the international system," French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters before going into talks on the sensitive issue with his EU counterparts.
"We should encourage it in this direction to contribute to international stability and security, especially in Asia," he said.
But he won no support in the meeting for France's aim to lift the embargo at an EU summit at the end of March.
CLASH OF WORDS: While China’s foreign minister insisted the US play a constructive role with China, Rubio stressed Washington’s commitment to its allies in the region The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday affirmed and welcomed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio statements expressing the US’ “serious concern over China’s coercive actions against Taiwan” and aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart. The ministry in a news release yesterday also said that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs had stated many fallacies about Taiwan in the call. “We solemnly emphasize again that our country and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other, and it has been an objective fact for a long time, as well as
‘CHARM OFFENSIVE’: Beijing has been sending senior Chinese officials to Okinawa as part of efforts to influence public opinion against the US, the ‘Telegraph’ reported Beijing is believed to be sowing divisions in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture to better facilitate an invasion of Taiwan, British newspaper the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Less than 750km from Taiwan, Okinawa hosts nearly 30,000 US troops who would likely “play a pivotal role should Beijing order the invasion of Taiwan,” it wrote. To prevent US intervention in an invasion, China is carrying out a “silent invasion” of Okinawa by stoking the flames of discontent among locals toward the US presence in the prefecture, it said. Beijing is also allegedly funding separatists in the region, including Chosuke Yara, the head of the Ryukyu Independence
‘ARMED GROUP’: Two defendants used Chinese funds to form the ‘Republic of China Taiwan Military Government,’ posing a threat to national security, prosecutors said A retired lieutenant general has been charged after using funds from China to recruit military personnel for an “armed” group that would assist invading Chinese forces, prosecutors said yesterday. The retired officer, Kao An-kuo (高安國), was among six people indicted for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法), the High Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The group visited China multiple times, separately and together, from 2018 to last year, where they met Chinese military intelligence personnel for instructions and funding “to initiate and develop organizations for China,” prosecutors said. Their actions posed a “serious threat” to “national security and social stability,” the statement
NATURAL INTERRUPTION: As cables deteriorate, core wires snap in progression along the cable, which does not happen if they are hit by an anchor, an official said Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信) immediately switched to a microwave backup system to maintain communications between Taiwan proper and Lienchiang County (Matsu) after two undersea cables malfunctioned due to natural deterioration, the Ministry of Digital Affairs told an emergency news conference yesterday morning. Two submarine cables connecting Taiwan proper and the outlying county — the No. 2 and No. 3 Taiwan-Matsu cables — were disconnected early yesterday morning and on Wednesday last week respectively, the nation’s largest telecom said. “After receiving the report that the No. 2 cable had failed, the ministry asked Chunghwa Telecom to immediately activate a microwave backup system, with
RSS