US President George W. Bush has been lobbying British Prime Min-ister Tony Blair over the last few months to veto the EU's plan to lift a 15-year arms embargo on China.
Blair, who is on holiday, has been left squeezed between the US and France and other European governments, which argue that the time is right to end the embargo. US Secretary of State Colin Powell has expressed alarm at the possibility of EU arms being used against US troops in the Taiwan Strait.
A British government spokesman said on the weekend: "At the moment, ministers are reviewing proposals with European Union partners. Until we see the findings of the review, we are not saying anything."
A government official said that although Blair would "probably" still vote for lifting the embargo, he was having second thoughts.
Blair's difficulty is compounded by renewed tension in the Taiwan Strait over the last fortnight. China has mounted the biggest military operation in the Strait for 20 years and on Friday threatened invasion if Taiwan's government pushed ahead with constitutional plans cementing separation.
Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan (曹剛川) warned Taiwan on the weekend that the People's Liberation Army would "smash" any moves toward independence.
"We will never allow anybody to separate Taiwan from China in any form," he added. "The will of 1.3 billion Chinese people cannot be infringed upon."
The spokesman for the European foreign affairs commission said on Sunday that no decision would be made until at least the end of the year. In effect, the decision has been postponed until after the US election in November.
The review has divided the British government's foreign policy makers, with some arguing that Blair's office blundered by agreeing to the review in the first place without realizing the implications for Washington.
Others argue that China is strategically important to the EU economically and it would do Blair no harm to distance himself from the US on this occasion. The embargo was imposed in response to the Tiananmen Square Massacre by Chinese troops in 1989. French President Jacques Chirac last year led a campaign to have the embargo lifted.
Blair was caught by surprise towards the end of a dispirited EU summit last December at which leaders failed to agree on a new constitution.
The French government brought up the issue of reviewing the arms embargo late in the summit and Britain agreed, apparently not fully realizing the consequences for Washington.
At further meetings in April and last month, Blair backtracked, pressing for further discussion, including of China's human-rights record.
Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell, who held talks in Beijing last week on a range of issues, said: "The arms embargo remains in place. The EU is reviewing the embargo. We need consensus and cannot pre-empt that. Every government is engaged and we have not reached a position yet to say the embargo will be lifted. We support the review."
He added: "The US has voiced its views on this issue. Our position on Taiwan has been a consistent one. Conflict across the straits would be disastrous. You need dialogue."
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