European politician supports continued arms ban on China

A member of the European Parliament and leader of the pro-Taiwan group inside the legislative body said yesterday that he is strongly opposed to lifting the EU's arms embargo on China.

George Jarzembowski, who arrived in Taiwan yesterday for a six-day visit, made the remarks when meeting with Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday.

Jarzembowski has made significant efforts to win the support of EU members for Taiwan's bid to join the World Health Organization, and has urged the EU to apply more rigorous standards when considering eliminating its arms embargo on China.

According to a press release from the MAC, Jarzembowski told Wu that he could not understand why the opposition parties continue to shoot down the government's special arms procurement budget bill.

Opposition legislators have declined to review the bill to buy three PAC-3 surface-to-air missile defense systems, 12 P-3C maritime patrol aircraft and eight diesel-powered submarines.

Jarzembowski told Wu that Taiwan's national security has been an important concern of the European Parliament, the press release said.

While the European Parliament had decided to delay removing its arms embargo on China after the passage of China's "Anti-Secession" Law, its members were also confused as to why Taiwan hasn't been able to finalize its decision on the bill for such a long time, Jarzembowski was quoted as saying by the MAC.