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sexta-feira, fevereiro 11, 2005
Why Europe is ready to lift its weapon ban on China
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For the Americans, however, such a move is heresy. A China armed with weapons technologies from Europe facing American forces in the South China Sea, they argue, could forever change the post-cold war geopolitical order.
The UK plays down such fears. 'British soldiers are currently fighting side by side with their American allies,' says one Whitehall official. 'I would be astounded if that fact was brushed aside because of the replacement of an ineffective embargo by real restrictions on exports.'
Yet a recent Central Intelligence Agency assessment argues that growing links with China could eventually shift EU allegiance away from the 60-year-old transatlantic status quo: 'An EU-China alliance, though still unlikely, is no longer unthinkable.'
Despite the objections and alarm, the EU is expected to lift the embargo by midyear. Some in the Bush administration, particularly in the White House, have become resigned to the fact and have been working with the EU towards a face-saving solution.
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The EU wants to make relations with China less awkward by ending an arms embargo in place since 1989
• The EU rivals the US as China’s biggest trading partner, with two-way trade of E135bn in 2003
• The value of EU arms export licences to China was E416m in 2003, in spite of the embargo
• The EU insists lifting the arms embargo should not mean an increase of arms exports from EU member states to China
• The US worries that loopholes could allow China to obtain technology that could be used on the battlefield
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FT.com / Comment & analysis / Analysis - Why Europe is ready to lift its weapon ban on China:
For the Americans, however, such a move is heresy. A China armed with weapons technologies from Europe facing American forces in the South China Sea, they argue, could forever change the post-cold war geopolitical order.
The UK plays down such fears. 'British soldiers are currently fighting side by side with their American allies,' says one Whitehall official. 'I would be astounded if that fact was brushed aside because of the replacement of an ineffective embargo by real restrictions on exports.'
Yet a recent Central Intelligence Agency assessment argues that growing links with China could eventually shift EU allegiance away from the 60-year-old transatlantic status quo: 'An EU-China alliance, though still unlikely, is no longer unthinkable.'
Despite the objections and alarm, the EU is expected to lift the embargo by midyear. Some in the Bush administration, particularly in the White House, have become resigned to the fact and have been working with the EU towards a face-saving solution.
...
The EU wants to make relations with China less awkward by ending an arms embargo in place since 1989
• The EU rivals the US as China’s biggest trading partner, with two-way trade of E135bn in 2003
• The value of EU arms export licences to China was E416m in 2003, in spite of the embargo
• The EU insists lifting the arms embargo should not mean an increase of arms exports from EU member states to China
• The US worries that loopholes could allow China to obtain technology that could be used on the battlefield
...
FT.com / Comment & analysis / Analysis - Why Europe is ready to lift its weapon ban on China:
posted by CMT, 10:40 da manhã
