• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

LIFTING ARMS SALES BAN HAS BECOME DIFFICULT FOR EU: ROC ENVOY

ROC News Agency

2005-04-15 11:37:39

    Paris, April 14 (CNA) It has become difficult for the 25 member states of the European Union to reach a consensus on a lifting of the arms sales ban on China due to several factors, Taiwan's top envoy to the EU and Belgium said in Brussels Thursday.

    According to Chen Chien-jen, some of the factors include China's recent enactment of an anti-secession law targeting Taiwan, its human rights record, and regional security in East Asia.

    The European Parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution requesting that the European Council, the highest decision-making body of the EU, not lift the arms sales ban. The EP also voiced in the resolution its concerns about the security situation in the Taiwan Strait.

    Welcoming the passage of the resolution, Chen said that since the E.P. represents public opinion in the EU, the resolution surely

reflects the EU citizens' opposition to a lifting of the ban.

    Noting that the European Council had voiced its concerns over the development of the cross-strait relationship and situation at the time when both sides of the strait agreed to launch special cross-strait charter flight services for the Chinese New Year this year as well as over China's enactment of the anti-secession law, the envoy said that this demonstrates that the European Council and EP hold a similar view on the matter.

    Several human rights reports from various international organizations have said that Beijing has only registered a little progress in its human rights record, Chen said, adding that some of the reports have even said that the human rights situation in China has in deteriorated in certain areas.

    Chen further said that a lifting of the EU arms sales ban might send the wrong message to Beijing as it has not yet clearly committed itself on issues relating to the signing of the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre.

(By P.C. Tang and Y.S. Lo)

Enditem/Li