Faced with the prospect that the EU might lift its arms embargo against China, Taiwanese defense officials said yesterday that this was just a possibility, and that if the EU did lift the restrictions, the impact on Taiwan might not be as great as some people feared.
In response to a question by the Taipei Times, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Major General Huang Suei-sheng (
Acknowledging that China's military power would be greatly improved if the EU did lift its arms embargo, Huang said: "We will continue to strengthen our defense capabilities at our own pace despite what happens."
A senior defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity said improved relations between China and the EU should not necessarily be interpreted as a threat to Taiwan, since it is more likely a response to the growing power of the US.
"It is apparent that the EU wants to use China as a check against the US. China is willing to play this role for the sake of acquiring high-tech hardware from European countries like France and Germany. But for the moment there is no sign that France or Germany would consider selling weaponry that might affect the balance of power in the Taiwan Strait," the official said.
"We are not really worried about the development between the EU and China, but we will keep an eye on it," he said.
Keven Cheng (鄭繼文), editor-in-chief of Defense International magazine, said there is only a slim possibility of France or Germany selling any big-ticket weapons system such as fighter planes or submarines to China.
"France and Germany are more likely to sell minor weapons systems like radar, air-to-air missiles, sonar equipment or torpedoes to China. They would face great pressure from the US if they wanted to sell anything bigger to Beijing," Cheng said.
"From a strategic point of view, the growing alliance between the EU and China is obviously a result of the US' expansion of its influence and power in recent years," he said.
It might be too early to worry about the EU lifting its arms embargo, since France and Germany, the two countries that are actively pushing for the move, have yet to enable a modification of a resolution reached by the EC in 1992 governing arms exports by EU members.
One of the aims of the 1992 EU Code of Conduct for Arms Export is to preserve "regional peace, security and stability." It has a clear-cut principle on arms exports by EU members: "Member states will not issue any export license if there is a clear risk that the intended recipient would use the proposed export aggressively against another country or to assert by force a territorial claim."
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