The EU may end its ban on arms sales to China this spring, diplomatic sources said, a move that could allow China's big-spending military to buy cutting-edge weapons ranging from French Mirage jets to stealthy German submarines.
At a meeting tomorrow, EU foreign ministers will debate the issue but not make a formal announcement, said the officials.
"It will take a few months," one EU diplomat close to the negotiations said on Friday.
"But we are not talking about something way off in the future. In the spring, perhaps," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
China's military has been moving quickly to modernize, fueled by the country's booming economy. A Pentagon report in 2002 warned China was intent on developing a vastly more potent military, with its training focusing more on the US as an enemy.
For 13 consecutive years, China has made double-digit increases in the public budget for the 2.5-million strong People's Liberation Army. Reported defense spending grew 17.6 percent to US$20 billion in 2002 -- but foreign analysts say the true spending is likely four times the official figures.
Europe imposed the ban on weapons sales after Beijing's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
But EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin said there had been a "shift of mood" in European capitals, although some opposition remained.
"There is clear pressure from China to get the arms embargo lifted," Udwin said Friday.
The foreign ministers of the 15 EU nations -- and the 10 countries joining the bloc in May -- have agreed to re-examine the embargo, said French foreign ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous in Paris. "No one is really opposed to this objective," he added.
Proponents of ending the ban say there will still be the EU's Code of Conduct for arms sales to act as a safety net. The code forces EU nations to ensure the arms they sell are not used for internal repression, external aggression or where serious violations of human rights have occurred.
The EU view has long been that China must significantly improve its human rights record before the arms embargo can be lifted.
However, last fall, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, on a visit to China, said France and Germany wanted the embargo gone.
There still is opposition to that in Europe.
"We are willing to debate an end to the arms embargo, but for us this is not the right moment to lift it," said a Dutch diplomat.
The Netherlands and Scandinavian nations lead opposition to ending the arms ban, along with the European Parliament.
Last month, the EU assembly cited human rights violations, noting a report on relations with China that the EU foreign ministers endorsed in October.
It said persistent rights violations overshadow China's remarkable economic growth. It called the gap between China's rights record and internationally accepted rights "worrisome."
For its part, however, China responded by saying relations with the EU "now are better than any time in history" and that ending the arms ban can only make things better.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
IMPORTANT BACKER: China seeks to expel US influence from the Indo-Pacific region and supplant Washington as the global leader, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said China is preparing for war to seize Taiwan, Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said in Washington on Friday, warning that Taiwan’s fall would trigger a regional “domino effect” endangering US security. In a speech titled “Maintaining the Peaceful and Stable Status Quo Across the Taiwan Strait is in Line with the Shared Interests of Taiwan and the United States,” Chiu said Taiwan’s strategic importance is “closely tied” to US interests. Geopolitically, Taiwan sits in a “core position” in the first island chain — an arc stretching from Japan, through Taiwan and the Philippines, to Borneo, which is shared by
RSS