'No consensus' to lift EU arms ban yet
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European Union countries are yet to reach a consensus on whether or not to lift the arms embargo on China, the Hungarian foreign minister said in Chongqing yesterday.
Balazs Peter said it's "a question of conditions" for the 27-nation bloc to decide whether to remove the embargo.
"Look, this is a very sensitive issue," Peter responded to China Daily. "We have to talk about it. It's a question of conditions, when and on what conditions," he said, without elaborating.
The arms embargo, imposed since 1989, emerged as a hot topic when Spain took over the half-year EU rotating presidency last month.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos said on Jan 26 that Madrid was "weighing the pros and cons" of the embargo.
Moratinos added France has been one of the main supporters of lifting the ban and "Spain is following that line".
Earlier, Spanish ambassador to China Carlos Blasco Villa told China Daily that his country hopes to "deepen discussions on lifting the ban".
But Peter said all EU countries must reach a consensus.
"We have close alliance with 26 other EU countries. We have obligations to discuss such steps with all 26," he said after yesterday's opening ceremony of the Hungarian general consulate in Chongqing.
Though he added Hungary is not in favor of limiting trade, weapons are "sensitive products", which are "interrelated with peace and stability".
"This depends on 27 states. The EU has become much more complex than it used to be. We have to agree with all our partners in Europe," he added.
Nonetheless, there is a reticence to lift the embargo unless it is done in tandem with the United States, due to security implications, online business information service Eubusiness.com quoted an unnamed diplomat.
But David Shambaugh, a professor at George Washington University and now visiting scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, denied a US role in the issue between China and the EU.
"It is a moving issue, but I don't think it'll be lifted," Shambaugh said to the EU Delegation in Beijing yesterday, adding there's no consensus within the bloc.
He said central European countries, of which Hungary is a part, and some Scandinavian countries are not in favor of lifting it. Other big EU countries such as Germany and the UK have yet to decide, he added.
But lifting the embargo would significantly boost ties between China and the EU, said Zhao Chen, a research fellow in European studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
"It'll mean a total warming up for Sino-European ties if the embargo is lifted," he added.
"It (the embargo) is actually more a political issue than a military one," said Zhao.
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