U.S. CONGRESSMAN URGES E.U. NOT TO LET ARMS DEALERS DICTATE POLICY
ROC Central News Agency
2005-03-02 19:18:04
Washington, March 2 (CNA) U.S. House Representative Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) urged the European Union Tuesday not to let the vested interests of a few arms dealers dictate E.U. policy and not to lift its arms embargo on mainland China imposed in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
Chabot, co-leader of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, a group friendly toward Taiwan in the U.S. Congress, made the remarks during a press conference for the Taiwan media at his office. "Clearly, it would be a mistake for the Europeans to lift the arms embargo," Chabot said, adding that it is "against the interests of Taiwan, the interests to the United States and ultimately against the interest of Europeans."
He said the House has overwhelmingly passed the resolution opposing an E.U. lifting of the embargo and expressed the hope that the E.U. will take that into consideration.
Asked if the U.S. Congress will introduce a bill to sanction the E.U. if it lifts the embargo, Chabot said it is premature to talk about what the U.S. might or might not do.
But he expressed hope that the Europeans will act in their own interest, as the lifting will not be in anybody's best interests, particularly in light of what happened in Tiananmen Square and with mainland China's human rights record.
He also pointed out that although the United States is trying to work with the E.U. as closely as possible on a whole range of issues, he has not seen any weakening of the U.S. opposition to a lifting of the embargo.
(By Oliver Lin and Lilian Wu)
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