China urges EU to lift arms ban
Tuesday, March 22, 2005 Posted: 7:07 AM EST (1207 GMT)
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- As European Union leaders begin gathering in Brussels, China has urged them to push ahead with plans to lift a 15-year-old embargo on arms sales to the country.
The 25-member bloc is expected to delay lifting the embargo amid opposition from the United States and concern over Beijing's passage of a law authorizing the use of military forces against Taiwan.
"The EU ban on arms sales to China is political discrimination against China and out of keeping with the times," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a news conference Tuesday.
"Linking these two issues is unreasonable," Liu said. "The passage of the anti-secession law is an effort to ease tensions across the Taiwan Straits.
"The key to ease tensions is to check Taiwan's secessionary forces and to stop all secessionist activities."
But British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said the anti-secession law could delay lifting the embargo because of the "non-peaceful" means China is prepared to use to block any independence bid by Taiwan.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress has threatened retaliation against the EU -- including not approving licenses for technology transfers -- if members lift the embargo.
During a recent tour of Asia, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said lifting it could alter the military balance in the region, where the United States stations armed forces.
The arms embargo is among a number of issues EU leaders will deal with at their two-day summit.
They will also be asked to approve a reform of the euro stability rules, which would give members countries more room to raise budget deficits to spur the economy. (Full story)
EU finance ministers on Sunday completed five months of negotiations, agreeing to allow member's budget deficits -- in exceptional circumstances -- to exceed the current ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product.
The Brussels meeting will also address proposed reforms in the services sector, as well as other business-friendly measures and increased research spending to boost long-term growth and re-ignite the EU's flagging economy.
Another cloud over the summit is a prediction that the approval of the EU's first constitution is in trouble in France.
A new opinion poll suggests that most French voters would reject the EU constitution if a referendum were held today -- in part because of opposition to reforms designed to make the European economy more flexible, which unions see as an attack on job security and social services.
Future membership in the EU is another issue.
Last week, the bloc said it was putting membership talks with Croatia on hold because it had yet to fully cooperated with the U.N. war crimes tribunal.
At the same time, Serbia and Bosnia want to open negotiations in the next few months on "stability and association agreements" with the EU.
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