Call to end arms embargo on China

Lifting ban would improve relations with EU, not result in arms sales, experts say

Brussels should start a dialogue with Beijing about lifting the arms embargo on China, say European experts.

Ending the embargo would not mean European weapons being freely exported to China, which already has a strong, modern-equipped military, but would be an important political gesture in accepting China as an equal partner, they say.

"It is time to discuss it again. The arms embargo against China is a leftover from a different era," Glyn Ford, a former member of the European Parliament, told China Daily before a EU summit in which security and foreign affairs will top the agenda.

Ford urged Brussels and EU member states to foster a realistic attitude toward China.

"This is a political rather than economic and trade issue," Ford says, proposing that arms sales to China should be covered by the standard restrictions that apply to all countries.

Brussels imposed an embargo on arms sales to China in 1989, but nearly 10 years ago, France, Germany, the UK, Spain and some other member states tabled a proposal for it to be lifted, saying it was outdated.

That failed for three reasons that are fundamentally unrelated to foreign policy regarding China, says Pierre Defraigne, executive director of the College of Europe Foundation in Brussels.

Defraigne, who was a senior official in the European Commission, says the first reason was the need for EU unanimity in decision-making on external affairs, where one opposing member state can block a decision. Secondly, the EU's security rests upon the US. The third reason is that the European Parliament has developed a very narrow and parochial view of the EU-China relationship, dominated by the question of democracy and human rights.

In November, Beijing and Brussels reached consensus on expanding strategic cooperation toward 2020, in which peace and security are main factors. Meanwhile, the new Chinese leadership has already established a sound relationship with leaders of major European powers. Also, China and France - a strong supporter of lifting the arms embargo 10 years ago - will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.

Niall Duggan, chair in modern Chinese society and economy of the University of Gottingen in Germany, says that as China searches for a fair and equal partnership with the EU, lifting the arms embargo has become a matter of national pride.

"For this reason, the Chinese government will continue to push this issue in Sino-EU interactions."

For the EU, the issue has become linked with China's human rights record, and it will be difficult for member states to gain the public support needed to lift the embargo.

The issue, therefore, will remain off the table for the foreseeable future, Duggan believes, but this may be a benefit for both sides, as each can focus on more rewarding areas of interaction, such as trade and people-to-people exchange.

"However, it must be pointed out that without the lifting of the embargo, cooperation in the area of global security between China and the EU will remain limited," he says.

Bernt Berger, head of Asia Program of Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm, says the arms embargo ironically ignores public security technologies, and still reflects a strong concern among Europeans about the internal situation in China.

"A review of the embargo would be useful," Berger says. "The EU and China should also engage in a comprehensive dialogue on the embargo."

Pierre Picquart, a China observer and professor of geopolitics at the University of Paris-VIII, also says it is time to lift the embargo, because China has modernized, become virtually a market economy, and the situation regarding human rights has improved greatly. Only a frank debate would resolve the situation, he says.

Hans Boller, founder of Media Tank in Switzerland, says Western developed nations in general seem reluctant to share their most sophisticated technologies with China, which they see not only as a trading partner but also as a strategic rival. He says it is essential to improve communication among all concerned. Channels and institutions have to be set up in which government officials, army generals and scholars can meet and explain their intentions and policy decisions.

James Hardy, Jane's Defence Weekly Asia-Pacific editor, says the US pivot is certainly at the back of some European countries' minds. In most areas, China does not need European military equipment, he says, and it is making major investment into those in which it is limited, such as jet engines.

Contact the reporters through fujing@chinadaily.com.cn

Li Xiaofei contributed to this story.

(China Daily European Weekly 12/20/2013 page3)