Chinese premier faces an uphill struggle to lift EU arms embargo

Date: 29/04/04

CHINA's prime minister arrives in Europe this weekend to lobby for an end to the arms embargo slapped on his country following the bloody clampdown on pro-democracy activists in Beijing's Tiananmen Square almost 15 years ago.

But Wen Jiabao faces an uphill struggle. The Union's foreign ministers decided on Monday (26 April) to postpone making any decision on the embargo's future, referring the controversial dossier to EU ambassadors for further debate.

Washington has been lobbying the Union not to lift the ban, fearing that doing so could exacerbate tensions in Asia and would upset the military balance of power in the region. A high US official told this paper that controlling member states' arms exports to China through the EU's code of conduct on weapons sales would not be a sufficient guarantee for Washington. He insisted a "military modernization of China is only acceptable if matched by a democratic modernization, which is not happening for the moment".

Meanwhile, human rights campaigners have argued that any easing of restrictions should be made conditional on such steps as a thorough inquiry into the events of 1989.

In an interview with Reuters yesterday, the Chinese premier hinted that ceasing the embargo would trigger an expansion in EU-China trade. "Our relationship is based on mutual trust and mutual benefit and aimed at seeking a win-win situation," Wen said. "It transcends our differences in social systems and ideologies."

Keen to bolster Sino-French commercial ties, Paris has been leading European calls for scrapping the embargo.

For the first time, Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel this week backed the French position. He said that the release of activists imprisoned since the time of the Tiananmen Square massacres would "facilitate the lifting of the embargo" but added this was not a "condition" for doing so. However, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark opposed ending the ban.

Wen's 2-12 May visit will see him holding talks with representatives of the main EU institutions in Brussels. He is also scheduled to stop in Germany, Italy, Ireland and the UK.

Preview of visit by Chinese Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, to the EU, May 2004.

http://www.eeas.europa.eu/china/index_en.htm http://www.eeas.europa.eu/china/index_en.htm

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