http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=10750
EU to lift China arms embargo ISN SECURITY WATCH (10/02/05) - EU leaders confirmed on Wednesday that the bloc would go ahead with plans to lift the 15-year-old arms embargo against China, despite strong objections from Washington. Visiting EU headquarters on Wednesday in Brussels on her first European tour as US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice discussed the China arms embargo with high-ranking European officials, but failed to convince them to abandon the move. Rice reiterated US concerns that lifting the embargo - imposed after the massacre of protesters in China's Tiananmen Square in 1989 - would send Beijing the wrong message about human rights. Speaking at a press conference with European Commission President Jose Manual Durrao Barroso, Rice referred to China's poor human rights record and regional instability, repeating Washington's concerns that lifting the embargo could upset the military balance in Northeast Asia - where the US is committed by law to help Taiwan defend itself from an attack from mainland China. "The United States has very specific concerns. We have made clear our concerns about the military balance, the fact that there are still American forces in that region," Rice said. "All that we can ask is that the European Union is aware of our concerns, understands them fully, and takes them fully into consideration in any decision that is made." Speaking at a separate press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Rice also pointed out that some 2'000 people were arrested during the Tiananmen Square protests, and that those people remained in prison. But Barroso remained firm on lifting the embargo. "The European Union is moving to lift the arms embargo. The European Union cannot be accused of rushing into this," he said. But Rice also sought to play down the differences between the two sides by stressing that the US administration felt its concerns had at least been considered. "I really have to underscore how much the Europeans have tried to take account of our concerns. We are having fruitful discussions with our European allies [�] I do feel we are being listened to," she said. France and Germany have been pushing other EU member states to lift the embargo, arguing that it was outdated and out-of-place since China and the EU had become major trading partners. The EU is set to lift embargo during the first half of this year. In the meantime, the bloc is in the process of creating a general "code of conduct" to regulate future arms sales to China. (By Ekrem Krasniqi in Brussels) ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Take a look at donorschoose.org, an excellent charitable web site for anyone who cares about public education! http://us.click.yahoo.com/_OLuKD/8WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
