NEW GERMAN LEADER OPPOSED TO LIFTING E.U. ARMS SALES BAN ON CHINA
Central News Agency
2005-11-17 11:37:40
Berlin, Nov. 17 (CNA) Angela Merkel, who will soon replace Gerhard Schroder as German chancellor, has said that she will adopt a different stance on the issue of lifting the European Union's ban on arms sales to China.
Merkel made the remarks in an interview carried in the Nov. 17 issue of the German weekly "Zie Zeit."
Schroder and French President Jacques Chirac have pushed hard for a lifting of the ban, which was imposed by the E.U. shortly after the Tiananmen Square Massacre in 1989.
Merkel also said in the interview that she is not afraid of telling China her stance on the issue as "this will not affect the good relations between the two countries."
According to German media reports, the foreign affairs experts of the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats, which are set to form a coalition government, have reached a consensus that a lifting of the E.U. arms sales ban on China will not be placed on the "administrative work" agenda of the new German coalition Cabinet.
The reports also said that Chinese President Hu Jintao did not discuss issues related to a lifting of the ban while meeting with Merkel during his recent visit to Germany.
Meanwhile, Friedbert Pfluger, foreign policy spokesman of the Christian Democrats, also told German media before the Merkel-Hu meeting that a precondition for lifting the arms sales ban is that "China should improve its human rights" and that "cross-Taiwan Strait tensions must be reduced."
He also said that the new German government will not unilaterally request, as its predecessor had done before, that the E.U. lift its arms exports ban on China.
The German Buntestag is expected to appoint Merkel as the new German chancellor Nov. 22.
(By Y.L. Lin and P.C.Tang)
Enditem/Li
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