China must do more to allay concerns over human rights and its saber-rattling stance on Taiwan if it wants the EU to lift a 16-year-old arms embargo anytime soon, the bloc is warning.
The upsurge in tensions between China and Japan is also fueling questions over the wisdom of plans to end the arms bans, diplomats said after a two-day meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.
"The ball is in China's court," said one source after the informal talks clouded by debate over lifting the arms ban, slapped on Beijing after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Officially, the 25-nation bloc remains committed, as agreed by an EU summit last December, to try to lift the embargo before the end of the current Luxembourg EU presidency in June.
The drive, spearheaded by EU heavyweights France and Germany, comes despite warnings by the US and Japan that such a move would upset the balance of power between Beijing and Taipei.
But the issue has been complicated notably by China's adoption last month of an "Anti-Secession" Law authorizing the use of force against Taiwan if it moves toward full independence.
Washington, which fears its forces in the region could be drawn into a conflict, has been leaning heavily on the EU.
US congressman have even warned that a lifting of the EU ban could lead to trade repercussions.
Seeking to calm concerns, the EU says that any decision to end the embargo would be accompanied by a beefing up of a self-imposed code of conduct on weapons sales.
The European bloc insists that a lifting of the ban would not lead to a significant increase in arms sales to China, either quantitively or qualitatively.
But there is little doubt that the furore sparked by the Anti-Secession Law, and more recently alarm over anti-Japanese protests in China fueling strains between Tokyo and Beijing, have put a brake on the EU decision.
"I can hardly imagine there will be an early and easy decision on this," said EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner at the weekend meeting in a picturesque Luxembourg chateau.
One diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, added: "The Chinese law and now developments in China and Japan are complicating debate."
French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, whose country has been accused of seeking to curry favor with Beijing by spearheading the drive to end the arms ban, insisted ending the embargo by June remains "realistic."
But Germany's Joschka Fischer stressed that the EU still wants China to do more to allay Western concerns. One key EU demand is for Beijing to ratify a UN covenant on political and civil rights.
"There are people who say the time is not ripe," said Fischer.
Indeed, doubts are growing that an accord can be struck by June, and many are now looking to Britain, which takes over the EU's six-month rotating presidency from July 1.
In theory, London will be less likely to broker an accord, being more sensitive to US pressure due to its closer ties with Washington, leading some to speculate that the arms ban may not now be lifted before next year.
But others insist that Britain is as committed as anyone to last December's EU decision. They point notably to a September EU-China summit as a possible focus for efforts to persuade Beijing to make a gesture to meet EU concerns.
Britain's Europe minister Denis MacShane said London would deal with the issue if it remained unresolved after July 1.
"We'll have to see what happens at the end of the Luxembourg [EU] presidency, to see whether this issue is on the agenda," he said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese