US: Don't lift arms embargo
2004-10-07 12:17
- Article Tools
- Share
- Get News24 on
Brussels - A senior United States State Department official was in Brussels on Thursday to urge the European Union not to lift its arms embargo on China.
Gregory Suchan, deputy assistant secretary of state for political-military affairs, was meeting EU diplomats to express concern that lifting the 15-year embargo risked undermining stability in east Asia and would send Beijing a wrong signal on human rights, US officials said.
With an eye to China's expanding military market, France and Germany have been pushing for the 25-nation EU to lift the embargo, which was imposed after the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square.
Other EU nations, led by the Netherlands and Sweden, have so far blocked efforts to lift the ban, citing continuing human rights concerns.
Taiwan is also worried that lifting the EU ban could upset the delicate military balance in Asia.
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is meeting European counterparts at an EU-Asia summit Friday and Saturday in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
- AP