Brussels, 14/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - During his visit to Beijing, President Prodi said that lifting of the European embargo on arms exports to China was not likely in the "immediate future" (see below). He also insisted on the progress being made in China regarding respect of human rights. Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao announced for his part on Wednesday, after having received Romano Prodi, that he will be on an official visit to Brussels during May.
Amnesty International: debates focus on human rights
On Wednesday, Amnesty International (AI) called on the EU to respect human rights in China, a central issue covered by the debate on possibly lifting the embargo of arms sales to China, a debate launched by the EU Council in January (see EUROPE of 27 January, p.4). A number of Member States, and France in particular, consider this embargo, which was imposed in 1989 after the bloody repression in Tiananmen Square, is now obsolete.
Taking great caution, AI did not take a stance either for or against keeping the embargo in place, when speaking to the press on Wednesday. As Dick Oosting, Director of its European Bureau, pointed out: "we are not asking for the embargo to be kept in place" but for the human rights situation in China to play a central role in the debate (see above). AI believes the human rights situation in China is "still gloomy". From now on, if the EU decides to lift the embargo, it will send "the wrong message", unless it receives "concrete measures" in exchange to improve the human rights situation, Mr Oosting stressed. The organisation mainly calls for an inquiry to be carried out into the events of Tiananmen Square, "as there has never been one", Mr Oosting deplored.
Amnesty International also considers it essential to strengthen the EU's code of conduct on arms exports. The code, which took effect in 1998, fixes the criteria to be respected in human rights so that the EU Member States may authorise arms exports toward third countries. While several Member States consider the code will serve as a "safeguard" in case the embargo is lifted, AI believes that, as things stand, it is far from providing sufficient guarantees. Denouncing an "uncontrolled" arms trade in which both the EU and China would take part, Robert Parker of AI pinpointed the failings of this code of conduct: - its criteria are too vague and subject to different interpretations by Member States, its scope is too restricted, there is not enough transparency, and it is not legally binding. In a press release, AI deplores the fact that it is not respected by all EU countries or by some countries about to join the EU. According to Mr Parker, several Member States (France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Finland) would continue to export arms to China despite the embargo. This is why, just ten days from the General Affairs Council on 26 and 27 April, AI calls on the EU to strengthen the code so that "security material and weapons from the EU are not used to violate human rights".