European leaders faced embarrassment on Wednesday when figures showed a doubling in approvals of arms sales to China, despite an embargo imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989.
Amnesty International said it would closely monitor the conduct of Britain, France and Italy, Europe's largest arms exporters.
The warning came after figures showed the value of EU licenses to sell arms to China increased from 210 million euros (US$273.5 mil-lion) in 2002 to 416 million euros in 2003. France increased its share from 105 million euros to 171 million euros, while Britain increased its share from 79 million euros to 112 million euros. The license value indicates the volume of sales officially sanctioned.
The licenses, published in last month's edition of the EU's Official Journal, were legal because European countries are free to sell a range of "non lethal" arms to China.
Sales to China are governed by a code drawn up when the embargo was imposed after hundreds, possibly thousands, were killed in Tiananmen Square.
The recent dramatic increase in sales will raise questions about reassurances offered by European leaders as they prepare to lift the arms embargo this summer.
UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has attempted to assuage rights activists by saying Europe merely wanted to normalize its trading relations with China and had no intention of flooding it with arms.
A revised code will be introduced to ensure that China cannot acquire weapons for "internal repression or external aggression."
Critics say the code will be largely meaningless because it will be up to individual countries to enforce it. They also point out that the large volume of arms sales -- while an embargo is in force -- shows that manufacturers are itching to tap into China's market.
Dick Osting, Amnesty International's European spokesman, said: "We are planning to keep up the pressure. We will ask, what signals are European leaders sending [by lifting the embargo]?
US President Donald Trump yesterday announced sweeping "reciprocal tariffs" on US trading partners, including a 32 percent tax on goods from Taiwan that is set to take effect on Wednesday. At a Rose Garden event, Trump declared a 10 percent baseline tax on imports from all countries, with the White House saying it would take effect on Saturday. Countries with larger trade surpluses with the US would face higher duties beginning on Wednesday, including Taiwan (32 percent), China (34 percent), Japan (24 percent), South Korea (25 percent), Vietnam (46 percent) and Thailand (36 percent). Canada and Mexico, the two largest US trading
ACTION PLAN: Taiwan would expand procurement from the US and encourage more companies to invest in the US to deepen bilateral cooperation, Lai said The government would not impose reciprocal tariffs in retaliation against US levies, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, as he announced five strategies to address the issue, including pledging to increase Taiwanese companies’ investments in the US. Lai has in the past few days met with administrative and national security officials, as well as representatives from various industries, to explore countermeasures after US President Donald Trump on Wednesday last week announced a 32 percent duty on Taiwanese imports. In a video released yesterday evening, Lai said that Taiwan would not retaliate against the US with higher tariffs and Taiwanese companies’ commitments to
‘SPECIAL CHANNEL’: Taipei’s most important tasks are to stabilize industries affected by Trump’s trade tariffs and keep negotiations with Washington open, a source said National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) arrived in the US for talks with US President Donald Trump’s administration, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday. Wu was leading a delegation for a meeting known as the “special channel,” the Financial Times reported earlier. It marked Trump’s first use of the channel since returning to the White House on Jan. 20. Citing a source familiar with the matter, the Financial Times reported that Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) was also a part of the delegation. The visit came days after China concluded war games around Taiwan and amid Trump’s
CHIP EXCEPTION: An official said that an exception for Taiwanese semiconductors would have a limited effect, as most are packaged in third nations before being sold The Executive Yuan yesterday decried US President Donald Trump’s 32 percent tariff on Taiwanese goods announced hours earlier as “unfair,” saying it would lodge a representation with Washington. The Cabinet in a statement described the pledged US tariffs, expected to take effect on Wednesday next week, as “deeply unreasonable” and “highly regrettable.” Cabinet spokeswoman Michelle Lee (李慧芝) said that the government would “lodge a solemn representation” with the US Trade Representative and continue negotiating with Washington to “ensure the interests of our nation and industries.” Trump at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday announced a 10 percent baseline tariff on most goods
RSS