European Union's Arms Control Regime and Arms Exports to China: Background and Legal Analysis

摘要

In recent months, discussions have been held within the European Union (EU) on the question of lifting the embargo on arms exports to the People's Republic of China that was imposed on China on June 27, 1989. The prospect that the EU would lift its embargo on arms exports to China has led to a number of on-going discussions between EU member states and the United States government, which strongly opposes such an action at this time on human rights and security issues grounds. Key nations within the European Union, particularly France and Germany, strongly support lifting of the embargo. And, the United Kingdom has advised the Bush Administration that it will also support lifting the embargo when the subject is formally addressed by the EU, most likely during the spring of 2005. The Council of the EU has stated that if the arms embargo on China were to be lifted, that action should not result in either a quantitative or qualitative increase in EU arms exports to China. The United Kingdom has argued that it believes that the European Union s Code of Conduct on Arms Exports, while not legally binding on EU members, with some enhancements, would provide a solid safeguard against worrisome arms exports by EU states to the Chinese in the future.