British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, whose country holds the EU presidency in the second half of this year, said on Thursday that there is little chance of the EU lifting its ban on arms sales to China.
Straw said there was still considerable opposition in Europe, given China's human-rights record and tension between China and Taiwan.
"That is reflected in a series of resolutions in the European Parliament. So that is the difficulty at the moment," he told a group of journalists from across the EU.
The EU embargo was imposed after the Chinese military crushed student protests at Tiananmen Square in June 1989.
EU nations have been debating an end to the measure for several years and Straw's comment indicated the issue will not be settled soon.
Britain assumed the EU presidency yesterday. As such, it will set the EU agenda for the rest of the year and is unlikely to lobby for a lifting of the ban. Britain, along with the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, is most opposed to lifting the ban because of China's shaky human-rights record and Beijing's strident language in its dealing with Taiwan.
London is also wary of aggravating trans-Atlantic ties. The US has voiced concern about an end to the European arms ban, especially after China adopted the "Anti-Secession" Law recently authorizing military action against Taiwan.
Washington fears sales of high-tech arms to China's rapidly modernizing People's Liberation Army, the world's largest military by troop numbers, could increase its abilities to threaten US allies in Asia, including Japan and Taiwan, as well as its nearly 230,000 troops in the region.
Responding to such concerns, the EU is beefing up a code of conduct to govern eventual arms sales to China by the bloc's 25 member states.
"My guess is that there is still no consensus" to end the ban, Straw said.
SECURITY: The New Zealand and Australian navies also sailed military vessels through the Strait yesterday to assert the right of freedom of navigation The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Wednesday made its first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace last month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese news platform reported that the destroyer JS Sazanamisailed down through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, citing sources in the Japanese government with knowledge of the matter. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the reports at a regular briefing because they concern military operations. Military vessels from New Zealand and Australia also sailed through the Strait on the same day, Wellington’s defense ministry
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is set to issue sea and land warnings for Tropical Storm Krathon as projections showed that the tropical storm could strengthen into a typhoon as it approaches Taiwan proper, the CWA said yesterday. The sea warning is scheduled to take effect this morning and the land warning this evening, it said. The storm formed yesterday morning and in the evening reached a point 620 nautical miles (1,148km) southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, moving west-southwest at 4 kph as it strengthened, the CWA said. Its radius measured between 220km and 250km, it added. Krathon is projected
SOVEREIGNTY EMPHASIZED: President William Lai said that Taiwan ‘absolutely will not sign’ an agreement with Beijing implying that the nation is part of China Taiwan hopes to join like-minded nations under the democratic umbrella and jointly counter authoritarian aggression, President William Lai (賴清德) said in a prerecorded speech during the annual Concordia Summit in New York on Tuesday. Lai addressed the summit via video at Concordia’s invitation, using the opportunity to speak on the issue of Chinese aggression toward Taiwan and Beijing’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758. Lai’s comments came on the heels of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly, which opened on Tuesday. China has “distorted” UN Resolution 2758 “in support of its ‘one China’ principle,” he said. Through its misinterpretation
‘ANONYMOUS 64’: A national security official said that it is an attempt by China to increase domestic anti-Taiwanese sentiment and inflame cross-strait tensions The Ministry of National Defense’s (MND) Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM) yesterday denied accusations by China that it had undermined regional security by carrying out cyberattacks against targets in China, adding instead that Beijing was responsible for raising tensions and undermining regional peace. The Chinese Ministry of State Security on WeChat accused a hacker group called “Anonymous 64” of targeting China, Hong Kong and Macau starting earlier this year through frequent cyberattacks. The group carried out cyberattacks to seize control of Web sites, outdoor electronic billboards and video-on-demand platforms in China, Hong Kong and Macau, it said, adding the hackers’