Friday

1st Dec 2023

China tells EU to end arms ban

  • Wen (r) greets EU officials at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels on Thursday (Photo: consilium.europa.eu)

Chinese leader Wen Jiabao has bluntly told the EU to drop its ban on arms sales.

He made the call in his opening remarks to top EU officials Herman Van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso at a summit in a stately home in Brussels on Thursday (20 September).

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"I have to be frank with you in saying this - on the issue of lifting the arms embargo on China and recognising China's full market economy status. We have been working hard for 10 years [on this] but the solution has been elusive. I deeply regret this. I hope and I do believe that the EU side will seize the opportunity and take the right initiative at an early stage to resolve these issue," he said.

The official TV feed did not broadcast Van Rompuy or Barroso's reaction and there is no independent press access to the event.

Earlier in his opener, Wen noted that EU institutions are gaining more power over EU countries.

"As the European integration process deepens, we hope ... that EU institutions will encourage EU member states to play a more pro-active part in EU-China co-operation," he said.

He added the EU should not be scared of China: "We don't have major conflicts of interest. We regard each other as an opportunity not a threat."

He did not mention the US directly. But he said that China is "opposed to the G2" - a balance of world power dominated by the US and China.

The EU imposed the arms ban on human rights grounds after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Amid talk of a merger between EU arms firms BAE Systems and Eads to create the world's largest weapons maker, the EU embargo also has strategic implications on arms technology transfer.

EU officials have in the past voiced sympathy for dropping the ban.

"The current arms embargo is a major impediment for developing stronger EU-China co-operation on foreign policy and security matters. The EU should assess its practical implication and design a way forward," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in an internal EU paper back in 2010.

The ban is already being flouted in practice.

EU countries granted export licences for almost €218 million of defence equipment to China in 2010.

According to EU documents, the lion's share came from France and the UK for aircraft and ground vehicle parts, electronic equipment, missiles and over €13 million of: "Chemical or biological toxic agents, 'riot control agents,' radioactive materials."

The US and Japan both oppose the move, however.

Japan's then EU ambassador Norio Maruyama told EUobserver last May that: "We have had a lot of bad experiences with the build up of China's military and the opacity of its military budget ... An end to the arms embargo would be a mistake, it would destabilise the situation in the region."

He added: "The US understands the danger, as they will be the first in line if something happens in Taiwan."

A leaked US cable from 2004 noted that Austria, Belgium, the Czech republic, France, Greece, Italy and the UK are in favour of relaxing sanctions.

Rockwell Schnabel, the US ambassador to the EU at the time, said: "Our efforts have managed to slow down the momentum in favor of removing the arms embargo, but have not killed this idea outright."

Meanwhile, Wen's comment on market economy status cuts to another painful issue in China-EU relations: the alleged dumping of cheap exports on EU markets.

If the EU takes the step, it will become harder for EU countries to impose tarrifs on Chinese goods.

The European Commission currently compares Chinese export prices with those of other low-cost exporters to see if they constitute illegal "dumping" under World Trade Organisation rules. If China is designated as a market economy, the EU will have to compare Chinese export prices with Chinese domestic prices instead, meaning fewer products will make the dumping grade.

Japan: Ashton was wrong on China arms ban

A recent proposal by EU high representative Catherine Ashton to lift the bloc's arms embargo on China was a "mistake" which caused great "concern" in Japan, a senior Japanese diplomat has said.

Ashton pragmatic on China in EU foreign policy blueprint

Catherine Ashton has recommended to EU leaders to drop an arms embargo on China as part of a major foreign policy review which urges the Union to boost relations with Beijing in order to remain relevant on the world stage.

Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog

Russia lost its seat on the board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for the first time in the organisation's history — while Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania were elected to the executive council.

Opinion

'Loss and Damage' reparations still hang in balance at COP28

There is still work to be done — especially when it comes to guaranteeing the Global North's participation in financing Loss and Damage, and ensuring the Global South has representation and oversight on the World Bank's board.

Latest News

  1. Israel recalls ambassador to Spain in new diplomatic spat
  2. Migrant return bill 'obstructed' as EU states mull new position
  3. Paris and Berlin key to including rape in gender-violence directive
  4. What are the big money debates at COP28 UN climate summit?
  5. 'Pay or okay?' — Facebook & Instagram vs the EU
  6. EU offers Turkey upgrade, as Sweden nears Nato entry
  7. Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog
  8. Finland's closure of Russia border likely violates asylum law

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us