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EU plans to lift China arms ban by June losing momentum
BRUSSELS - Plans to drop a European embargo on arms sales to China by June appear to be losing momentum amid concerns over recent developments in Beijing even if the EU is maintaining the timetable in the face of opposition from the US and Japan.

If a decision is not taken by the end of Luxembourg's presidency of the European Union in June—an increasingly likely scenario—the issue could be left in limbo until 2006 after the end of Britain's six-month presidency of the EU starting on July 1.

The future of relations with China is set to be one of the top subjects up for discussion at an informal meeting of EU foreign ministers Friday and Saturday in Luxembourg. The 16-year-old embargo is not officially on the gathering's agenda and no progress is expected on the subject, especially in the absence of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who is unable to attend the meeting in Luxembourg on account of an election campaign in Britain. But nevertheless, "the question (of the embargo) will be unavoidable" at the gathering, diplomats said.

Despite US and Japanese opposition, the EU has until recently been moving towards lifting the arms sales ban that it slapped on China after the 1989 massacre of pro-democracy students in Beijing's Tiananmen Square. Led by France and Germany, European leaders asked foreign ministers last December to draft an accord on removing the embargo by the end of June.

Support for its lifting has waned since China passed a controversial anti-secession law which authorizes the use of military force against Taiwan if the island moves toward formal independence.

"The European Union's position remains the position (taken) by the European Council in December. It has not changed at all," said Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. "But it's clear that there's been a series of elements, like the anti-secession law, which have had an impact. It could affect the time line," she conceded.

Last month, Solana admitted that the "anti-secession law raises reservations among us".
Why? You're the one who's going to sell the munitions so that China can flex its muscles.
Such concerns are clouding the timetable for a decision in Brussels diplomatic circles. "I can't tell you when it (a decision) will be done nor whether it will be done or not," said a diplomat, speaking on condition of remaining anonymous. "We are heading towards the end of the Luxembourg presidency. Maybe this has to be torn a little, not only because of internal preparations but also because of the mistakes that the Chinese have made," the diplomat added.

On top of the anti-secession law, tensions between China and Japan have flared up recently in disputes over their shared wartime past and Tokyo's decision to allow drilling for gas and oil in disputed waters. "The situation now between China and Japan is not contributing"  to efforts to make a decision on lifting the embargo, the diplomat said.

Human rights concerns are also fueling growing European reservations about dropping the arms ban, leading the EU to implicitly link a lifting of the embargo to an improvement on this front. "A gesture from China would not hurt," a Brussels diplomat said.
"Preferably an empty gesture," he added.
Meanwhile, the US has been stepping up pressure on the EU not to drop the embargo, with US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick suggesting last week that such action could hurt transatlantic defence relations. During a visit to Brussels, he said that "if there ever were a point where there were some conflict or danger and European equipment helped kill American men and women in conflict, that would not be good for the (transatlantic) relationship."
Posted by: Steve White 2005-04-14
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=61411