The EU reassured China on Thursday that it was pressing ahead with plans to lift a 15-year-old arms embargo on Beijing despite a storm sparked by its "Anti-Secession" Law targeting Taiwan.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the controversial law, which authorizes the use of force if Taipei moves towards independence, had caused "complicated atmospherics" around the debate over the EU arms ban.
But the EU plans remain on track, he said after discussion with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (李肇星) in Brussels.
Solana recalled that EU leaders agreed last December to work notably on beefing up an EU code of conduct, as preparation for lifting the embargo slapped on Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
"We are working politically towards that end. We want that end to be a reality. We are working very hard ourselves on compromises that we have to find among ourselves," he told reporters.
"The sooner the better," Solana added.
Speaking after talks with the Chinese foreign minister, his Luxembourg counterpart Jean Asselborn late Thursday stressed that the EU's current Luxembourg presidency would do "its best" to secure the lifting of the embargo.
"We will do our best, as current president, to ensure that this takes place," Asselborn told a press conference in Luxembourg. "We will put all our energy into it."
Li for his part restated Beijing's view that the lifting of the embargo was in the interest of both sides.
"We believe the lifting of the arms embargo is in the interest of peoples from countries on both sides," Li said.
"We have full confidence the EU will work things out," he said.
The EU's Luxembourg presidency has set a target of agreement on lifting the ban by the end of its term at the EU helm in June.
But the Anti-Secession Law has clouded the issue.
Solana conceded that this had had a political impact. But he also said there were some "positive" elements in the Chinese law, and indicated it did not fundamentally change the EU's aim of lifting the embargo.
"The atmospherics ... may have been a little more complicated with some countries or some parliaments. We'll see how things evolve. But the political will continues to be ... to keep on working on achieving that aim."
Those demanding an end to the arms ban -- a group spearheaded by French President Jacques Chirac -- argue that the EU ban is outdated given the political changes of the last decade and a half.
Also see story:
DEFENSE: The first set of three NASAMS that were previously purchased is expected to be delivered by the end of this year and deployed near the capital, sources said Taiwan plans to procure 28 more sets of M-142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), as well as nine additional sets of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), military sources said yesterday. Taiwan had previously purchased 29 HIMARS launchers from the US and received the first 11 last year. Once the planned purchases are completed and delivered, Taiwan would have 57 sets of HIMARS. The army has also increased the number of MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) purchased from 64 to 84, the sources added. Each HIMARS launch pod can carry six Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, capable of
Tropical Storm Podul strengthened into a typhoon at 8pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, with a sea warning to be issued late last night or early this morning. As of 8pm, the typhoon was 1,020km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving west at 23kph. The storm carried maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts reaching 155kph, the CWA said. Based on the tropical storm’s trajectory, a land warning could be issued any time from midday today, it added. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said Podul is a fast-moving storm that is forecast to bring its heaviest rainfall and strongest
TRAJECTORY: The severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday, and would influence the nation to varying degrees, a forecaster said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it would likely issue a sea warning for Tropical Storm Podul tomorrow morning and a land warning that evening at the earliest. CWA forecaster Lin Ting-yi (林定宜) said the severe tropical storm is predicted to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving west at 21kph and packing sustained winds of 108kph and gusts of up to 136.8kph, the CWA said. Lin said that the tropical storm was about 1,710km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, with two possible trajectories over the next one
GET TO SAFETY: Authorities were scrambling to evacuate nearly 700 people in Hualien County to prepare for overflow from a natural dam formed by a previous typhoon Typhoon Podul yesterday intensified and accelerated as it neared Taiwan, with the impact expected to be felt overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, while the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration announced that schools and government offices in most areas of southern and eastern Taiwan would be closed today. The affected regions are Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, and Yunlin, Chiayi, Pingtung, Hualien and Taitung counties, as well as the outlying Penghu County. As of 10pm last night, the storm was about 370km east-southeast of Taitung County, moving west-northwest at 27kph, CWA data showed. With a radius of 120km, Podul is carrying maximum sustained
RSS