EU urged to lift arms embargo against China

Former MEP Glyn Ford has urged the EU to lift its arms embargo against China.

Speaking in Brussels on Tuesday, Ford said the embargo served "no further purpose".

"This was imposed in the wake of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 and we have to remember that China has moved on a lot since then," he said.

Ford was attending a high-profile conference on EU-China relations, organised by Friends of Europe, a leading Brussels-based think tank.

The former Socialist deputy told this website said it was "wrong" to put China in the same category as other countries, such as Zimbabwe, with whom the EU currently has a similar arms embargo.

He said, "Yes, there are still irregularities but are we really saying, for example, that China's human rights record is as bad as Zimbabwe?"

"The arms embargo is a political gesture and the time is right to lift it."

However, Ford stressed there was still "room for improvement" in EU-China relations, saying, "They are not as good as some would have you believe."

Speaking at the same conference, Song Zhe, China's ambassador to the EU, warned that "future growth" of relations between the two sides "is not possible without mutual understanding and support".

"As two strategic forces in the world, China and the EU should continue to stand together in the face of difficulties, pursue mutually beneficial cooperation and expand and deepen cooperation."

Another keynote speaker, Wu Changhua, Greater China director of the climate group, called on the EU to "recognise" the efforts Beijing was making to become a more green society.

China, one of the world's biggest polluters, has often been criticised in the past over its environmental record.

But Wu told the conference that China was making "great strides" to improve its "commitment" to tackling global warming.

She pointed to nationally-agreed targets aimed at reducing CO2 emissions by 17 per cent over the next five years, adding, "China is well on track to become a low-carbon society."