EU arms embargo against China

In early 2004, Germany and France started to advocate lifting the EU arms embargo against China, imposed after the 1989 Tienanmen Square massacre of student activists. During the subsequent months, a number of articles appeared in international publications such as the International Herald Tribune, the Far Eastern Economic Review, and the Financial Times, speaking out against lifting the embargo.

The issue is building up as a source of friction between Europe on the one hand, and the US and democratic nations in Asia, such as Japan, Taiwan and South Korea on the other. The latter perceive the military buildup of China as threatening peace and stability in East Asia.

On 07 October 2004, Congressional Resolution H.Con.Res. 512 was introduced in the US House of Representatives. The Formosan Association for Public Affairs is urging US citizens to ask members of Congress to support the resolution.

On 02 February 2005, the US House of Representatives adopted Congressional Resolution H.Res. 57 by a vote of 411-3. Here is the text of the resolution in pdf-format.

On 17 February 2005, Senate Resolution S.Res.59 was introduced in the U.S. Senate by Senators Gordon Smith (R-OR) and Joseph Biden (D-DE). On Thursday, 17 March 2005, the full Senate passed the resolution by a unanimous vote.

Overview of press reports and editorials

2005

• 07 May 2005: Taipei Times, news report: EU drift away from lifting arms ban
• 19 April 2005: Int'l Herald Tribune, news report: GPS substitute for China?
• 07 April 2005: Taipei Times, Christopher Lingle: Dear EU: what price hypocrisy?
• 31 March 2005: Der Spiegel, Claus Christian Malzahn: Mr. Schroeder and the arms embargo: getting cozy with the dragon
• 31 March 2005: Int'l Campaign for Tibet, Richard Gere: Why Europe must not lift the arms embargo on China
• 31 March 2005: The Economist leader: Has China blundered?
• 29 March 2005: Int'l Herald Tribune editorial: Arms embargo on China
• 29 March 2005: Jerusalem Post Per Ahlmark: EU arms embargo: guns and poses
• 28 March 2005: New York Times editorial: China warrants an arms embargo
• 28 March 2005: Reuters Actor Richard Gere hits EU plan to lift China arms embargo
• 28 March 2005: New York Post Peter Brookes: European arms embargo imbroglio
• 25 March 2005: AsiaTimes Online Axel Berkofsky: U-turn politics on EU-China arms ban
• 25 March 2005: Voice of America news report: EU considers lifting arms embargo on China
• 25 March 2005: Int'l Herald Tribune Judy Dempsey: In Europe, public turns toward US on China
• 24 March 2005: Washington Post Jim Hoagland: The EU arms embargo and Tiananmen's Legacy
• 24 March 2005: Wall Street Journal Joseph Wu: Danger Strait Ahead
• 24 March 2005: Int'l Herald Tribune Joseph Kahn: For Beijing, a sobering message on embargo
• 23 March 2005: Deutsche Welle news report: EU facing damaging split over China
• 23 March 2005: Radio Free Asia news report: Chinese activists urge Europe to keep arms embargo
• 23 March 2005: Financial Times Wang Dan: History tells us to keep arms ban on China
• 23 March 2005: Int'l Herald Tribune Judy Dempsey: EU feels the heat on China embargo
• 22 March 2005: Der Spiegel news report: Europe goes cold on lifting China arms embargo
• 22 March 2005: New York Times news report: E.U. Said to Keep Embargo on Arms to China
• 21 March 2005: Financial Times news report: EU support ebbs for ending China arms ban
• 21 March 2005: Washington Post news report: Rice Warns Europe Not to Sell Advanced Weaponry to China
• 20 March 2005: Voice of America Foreign Secretary Jack Straw: China's Taiwan Law complicates lifting EU arms embargo
• 19 March 2005: Taipei Times Gerrit van der Wees: The EU must not appease Beijing's agression
• 18 March 2005: Int'l Herald Tribune Philip Gordon and James Steinberg: Selling arms to China: If Europe has to do it, here's how
• 17 March 2005: John Tkacik: EU finds little support for lifting China arms ban
• 17 March 2005: Wall Street Journal European Parliament member Erika Mann: Lifting the embargo; They will call us hypocrites
• 17 March 2005: Financial Times news report: EU move on China embargo faces delay
• 16 March 2005: Financial Times news report: EU fails to sway US on China arms ban
• 16 March 2005: Asian Wall St. Journal Wu'er Kaixi: EU's China flip-flop
• 12 March 2005: BBC news report: US watches China warily
• 11 March 2005: Financial Times news report: France spells out arms sales controls
• 10 March 2005: EUBusiness, Taiwan's President Chen urges EU not to lift arms embargo on China
• 09 March 2005: Defense News, news report: China to have 800 missiles aimed at Taiwan in 2006
• 09 March 2005: Christian Science Monitor, Editorial: Beijing pulls back its slingshot
• 09 March 2005: Reuters, news report: EU tries to ease standoff with US over China arms
• 07 March 2005: Newsweek, Melinda Liu: The US and the EU: Divide and Conquer
• 07 March 2005: Newsweek, Rana Forhoohar: Arms Embargo: No Lift in Sales
• 06 March 2005: London Times, Michael Sheridan: China's war talk on Taiwan heightens British arms feud
• 06 March 2005: New York Times, Thomas L. Friedman: Arms sales begin at home
• 04 March 2005: International Herald Tribune, Judy Dempsey: EU stance on China arms stirs 3 nations
• 03 March 2005: Deutsche Welle news report: US, EU on collision course over China
• 03 March 2005: The Guardian, Julian Borger and Nicholas Watt: Europe risks US sanctions over China arms sales
• 02 March 2005: New York Times news report: U.S. Lawmakers warn Europe on arms sales to China
• 01 March 2005: Agence France press, news report: Taiwan raps EU over plans to lift China arms ban
• 28 February 2005: The Economist editorial: Merci, y'all; why the heck is the EU planning to sell more arms to China?
• 27 February 2005: Los Angeles Times, Tyler Marshall: China Embargo Divides Allies
• 26 February 2005: Associated press news report: Europe's embargo on weapons sales to China is not what it seems
• 26 February 2005: International Herald Tribune, Editorial: Setting limits on weapons for China
• 23 February 2005: Heritage Foundation, Peter Brookes: A bad idea whose time has come: lifting the EU arms embargo on China
• 23 February 2005: International Herald Tribune, David Shambaugh: Don't lift the arms embargo on China
• 24 February 2005: Financial Times Raphael Minder: China's hunger for Galileo pinpoints US security fears
• 21 February 2005: Washington Post, Daniel Blumenthal and Thomas Donnelly: Why is Europe Eager to Sell Arms to China?
• 12 February 2005: Taipei Times, Condoleezza Rice: Europe receptive over concerns on arms sales
• 10 February 2005: Washington Times, Bill Gertz: EU urged to maintain China arms ban
• 09 February 2005: Heritage Foundation, John Tkacik: Forgetting Tienanmen: EU ignores Chinese human rights violations
• 09 February 2005: International Herald Tribune, Hans Binnendijk: A trans-Atlantic storm over arms for China
• 09 February 2005: AsiaTimes Online Col. Daniel Smith: Europe torn 'twixt profit, principle on China arms ban
• 07 February 2005: Financial Times Richard Whitman: EU arms embargo affair mishandled
• 07 February 2005: Voice of America news report: US opposes lifting arms sanctions against China
• 05 February 2005: Taipei Times US Congress lambasts EU on China arms
• 03 February 2005: Washington Times William R. Hawkins: Helping Europe arm China?
• 03 February 2005: AsiaTimes Online Axel Berkofsky: EU-China arms ban remains,for now
• 03 February 2005: AsiaTimes Online Jing-dong Yuan: Fallout from lifting the China arms ban
• 03 February 2005: Financial Times news report: US condemns EU plan to lift arms embargo on China
• 01 February 2005: Reuters news report: Condoleezza Rice: EU may send wrong signal on China arms
• 25 January 2005: Washington Times United States still opposes EU arms sales to China
• 23 January 2005: Agence France Press Jack Straw: No timetable to end EU-China arms ban
• 22 January 2005: AsiaTimes Online, Antoaneta Bezlova: Tiananmen aside, EU readies to lift arms ban
• 21 January 2005: International Herald Tribune, Richard Bernstein: EU vs. U.S. vs. China: Partnership paradoxes
• 21 January 2005: Financial Times, Tokyo increases pressure to keep China arms ban
• 20 January 2005: Financial Times, United States rejects Straw's attempt to ease tension over China arms embargo
• 20 January 2005: Washington Post, Jim Hoagland: EU arms embargo; don't let China off the hook
• 20 January 2005: Taipei Times, Richard Hazeldine: EU arms embargo must stay
• 20 January 2005: EU Business, Japan voices opposition to EU lifting arms embargo on China
• 19 January 2005: Financial Times, Jack Straw admits ending EU arms embargo will create tension with US
• 18 January 2005: Taipei Times, Prof. Vincent Wang: EU ban should cover "dual use"
• 15 January 2005: Taipei Times, European parliament votes to uphold arms-sales ban
• 12 January 2005: The Guardian, Nicholas Watt: The EU could lift its arms embargo on China

2004

• 28 December 2004: Taipei Times, Gerrit van der Wees: The EU is stakeholder in Taiwan's well-being
• 27 December 2004: Taipei Times, Guillaume Levesque: Why give China arms?
• 25 December 2004: Taipei Times, United States warns EU over China arms embargo
• 10 December 2004: Taipei Times, editorial: EU arms embargo good for the region
• 09 December 2004: EU Presidency: Joint statement EU-China summit
• 09 December 2004: Taipei Times, Charles Tannock: Don't feed the dragon of arms trade
• 08 December 2004: CNN news report: EU won't drop China arms ban soon
• 08 December 2004: AFP news report: EU split on arms ban
• 08 December 2004: Reuters news report: EU maintains China arms embargo, for now
• 05 December 2004: Financial Times, news report: Paris stalls end to EU arms ban on Beijing
• 30 November 2004: Asia Times Online, Li Jing: China may trade prisoners for arms
• 20 November 2004: Government Information Office, Wu Chih-chung: The EU should not lift its arms embargo against China
• 18 November 2004: Deutsche Welle news report: European parliament for China arms embargo
• 17 November 2004: Agence France Presse news report: European parliament votes to continue China arms embargo
• 17 November 2004: EUBusiness news report: European parliament votes to continue China arms embargo
• 16 November 2004: Reuters news report: Chris Patten tells EU Parliament China fails rights test
• 30 October 2004: Int'l Herald Tribune, FAPA President Ming-chi Wu: No to EU's arming China
• 29 October 2004: Deutsche Welle news report: German parliament rejects arms sales to China
• 21 October 2004: Taipei Times, Gerrit van der Wees: The EU would be wrong to sell arms to China
• 19 October 2004: Int'l Herald Tribune, Editorial: Courting China
• 15 October 2004: Reuters, Jim Wolf: EU urged to stick to China arms embargo
• 14 October 2004: Int'l Herald Tribune, Jonathan Mirsky: There's trade, and there is Tienanmen
• 14 October 2004: Int'l Herald Tribune, Jean-Pierre Cabestan: Chirac in China; behind a warm embrace, serious questions
• 13 October 2004: Taipei Times, Editorial: The EU made the right choice
• 13 October 2004: Taipei Times, China tells EU it must lift its ban on arms sales
• 12 October 2004: Taipei Times, Hao Pei-chih: Lobby EU to maintain arms ban
• 11 October 2004: Reuters, European Union fails to agree on lifting China arms embargo
• 08 October 2004: Defense News, Benjamin Morgan: China confident of early end to EU arms embargo
• 08 October 2004: Taipei Times, Honigmann Hong: EU arms dealers gunning for Asia
• 08 October 2004: Int'l Herald Tribune, AP news report: US warns EU against arms trade with China
• 04 October 2004: Defense News, William Matthews: US tries to hold Europe to China arms ban
• 02 October 2004: Taipei Times, Taiwan protesters: ask EU to maintain arms sales embargo
• 01 October 2004: Financial Times, Foreign Minister Mark Chen: The world will pay for arms sales to China
• 30 September 2004: The Economist, Editorial: Why scrapping the arms embargo would be a mistake
• 18 September 2004: Taipei Times, Wen Wei-ni: Persuading the EU to keep China arms ban
• 12 September 2004: Taipei Times, Wu Chih-chung: EU must not remove arms embargo on China
• 26 August 2004: Far Eastern Economic Review, Peter Brookes: Keep the pressure on China
• 04 August 2004: Int'l Herald Tribune, Graham Watson: The EU must keep its ban on arms sales to China
• 15 July 2004: Int'l Herald Tribune, Reginald Dale: The EU's foolish idea of selling arms to China
• 18 June 2004: Asian Wall Street Journal, John Tkacik and Nile Gardiner: Don't Lift the Arms Embargo on China
• 01 May 2004: Asia Times, Axel Berkofsky: EU unlikely to lift China arms embargo soon
• 22 April 2004: Far Eastern Economic Review, Steve Tsang: Keep the arms embargo on China
• 14 April 2004: Press release, Amnesty International: cautions EU against lifting arms embargo
• 23 March 2004: Int'l Herald Tribune, Roger Cliff and Evan S. Medeiros: Keep the arms embargo for China
• 01 February 2004: Taipei Times, Mei-chin Chen: EU arms embargo is critical for Strait peace
• 31 January 2004: EurAsia Bulletin, Axel Berkofsky EU weapons embargo with China to remain in place
• 25 January 2004: Taipei Times, European Union considers end to ban on arms sales to Beijing