Arms ban tarnishes EU image

The pros and cons of the long-standing arms embargo against China will be weighed by Spain, said Miguel Angel Moratinos, the country's foreign minister, and it will reconsider lifting the embargo in its position as European Union leader.

The Jan 26 announcement grabbed the attention of the Chinese media and the spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, who stressed that Beijing hopes that the EU will decide early to unconditionally lift the arms embargo to remove any impediments to the development of the China-EU relationship.

The announcement, however, to consider lifting the embargo against China is nothing new. But it is the political implications of the ban's removal that the Chinese government is paying more attention to, namely eliminating the political discrimination against China.