EU and Chinese officials yesterday debated their flourishing bilateral ties, but officials said the EU will keep in place its 15-year-old arms embargo to force Beijing to improve its shaky human rights record.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
As the talks got underway, officials speaking on condition of anonymity said the time was not right to end the embargo, given broad opposition in many EU nations.
China is on a buying spree of sophisticated military hardware for its 2.5-million strong People's Liberation Army.
It wants the EU to lift its arms ban, imposed after the bloody 1989 crackdown on the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests.
Germany and France, eager to sell to China military, support an end to the embargo, but other EU nations are opposed, as is the US. Washington has threatened to halt the transfer of defense technology to Europe if the EU ban is lifted.
"When considering the lifting of the ban, the broader relationship with China comes into play," Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot recently told his parliament.
"The human rights situation is an important part of that. A decision on lifting the ban is not currently at hand."
Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, whose country now holds the EU presidency, led a high-level EU delegation in the talks with Wen.
Also on the agenda were such issues as Taiwan's elections, non-proliferation and the economy.
Human rights groups say China has a long way to go on improving its human rights record.
Amnesty International says "torture and ill-treatment remain widespread and endemic within China's criminal justice system" and has called on Balkenende to address the issue.
Ahead of the EU-China talks, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zhang Qiyue (章啟月) rejected the human rights argument as justification for maintaining the ban.
"To maintain such an embargo is discriminatory and an obstacle to the promotion of China-EU relations," Zhang said.
The EU and China will sign a number of political and economic deals. On Thursday, Wen is to meet with European business leaders and visit the European Space Agency.
China's awakening as an economic giant has led to fast-growing economic ties. In 1980, China ranked 25th on the EU's list of most important trade partners. It rose to 14th, sixth and third place in 1990, 1999 and last year, respectively, according to EU figures.
The EU reconfirmed its commitment to its "one China" policy yesterday, but urged Beijing to resolve its disputes with Taiwan peacefully.
In a joint communique issued after a summit between visiting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said it is closely monitoring developments in Venezuela, and would continue to cooperate with democratic allies and work together for regional and global security, stability, and prosperity. The remarks came after the US on Saturday launched a series of airstrikes in Venezuela and kidnapped Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was later flown to New York along with his wife. The pair face US charges related to drug trafficking and alleged cooperation with gangs designated as terrorist organizations. Maduro has denied the allegations. The ministry said that it is closely monitoring the political and economic situation
UNRELENTING: China attempted cyberattacks on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure 2.63 million times per day last year, up from 1.23 million in 2023, the NSB said China’s cyberarmy has long engaged in cyberattacks against Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, employing diverse and evolving tactics, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said yesterday, adding that cyberattacks on critical energy infrastructure last year increased 10-fold compared with the previous year. The NSB yesterday released a report titled Analysis on China’s Cyber Threats to Taiwan’s Critical Infrastructure in 2025, outlining the number of cyberattacks, major tactics and hacker groups. Taiwan’s national intelligence community identified a large number of cybersecurity incidents last year, the bureau said in a statement. China’s cyberarmy last year launched an average of 2.63 million intrusion attempts per day targeting Taiwan’s critical
‘SLICING METHOD’: In the event of a blockade, the China Coast Guard would intercept Taiwanese ships while its navy would seek to deter foreign intervention China’s military drills around Taiwan this week signaled potential strategies to cut the nation off from energy supplies and foreign military assistance, a US think tank report said. The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted what it called “Justice Mission 2025” exercises from Monday to Tuesday in five maritime zones and airspace around Taiwan, calling them a warning to “Taiwanese independence” forces. In a report released on Wednesday, the Institute for the Study of War said the exercises effectively simulated blocking shipping routes to major port cities, including Kaohsiung, Keelung and Hualien. Taiwan would be highly vulnerable under such a blockade, because it
RSS