By Lewis Crofts - 4th May 2004
Brussels will not budge an inch on an arms embargo against Beijing despite the ruckus bound to surround the Chinese premier’s EU visit on Thursday.
Wen Jiabao and his Beijing entourage will try to incite the EU to lift the ban, but Brussels will not bow to any pressure.
“We won’t see anything very new in the next few days,” said an EU diplomat. “The consensus is not there.”
The embargo was imposed by the EU in 1989 following the Chinese regime’s crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square and subsequent human rights abuses.
But what is at stake is much more than just the import of European armaments.
A Brussels official stressed the “political symbolism” of lifting the ban.
“It is difficult for China to accept it is still in the dock alongside countries like Burma,” he added.
“The stamp of respectability matters a great deal to them.”
China’s continued violations of human rights have always played a role in the maintenance of the arms ban – despite EU denials of “any link or conditionality”.
Nevertheless, improvements in China would be “helpful” to its cause.
A Brussels spokesman would not be drawn on the EU’s position on the embargo, fending off questions, saying that “discussions were ongoing”.
EU governments have started to fall into different groups according to the leniency with which they view the embargo.
France is known to be in favour of lifting the ban, but Sweden and the UK want to tread more cautiously.
The European Commission will not lay its cards on the table “before June”.
“We have not adopted a formal position in this discussion.”
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