A senior US lawmaker on Wednesday introduced legislation to discourage the European Union from lifting its arms embargo on China, despite recent assurances from EU officials that plans to sell weapons to Beijing have been shelved.
The East Asia Security Act of 2005, authored by Republican US Representative Henry Hyde, was introduced after an uproar that followed Europe’s announcement last December that it was considering lifting the embargo slapped on China following its June 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy students in Beijing.
European officials have since said they have reconsidered the weapons sales, but congressional officials said the Hyde bill adds a measure of insurance.
“This bill is intended to show that the US Congress intends to encourage the EU to keep its commitment to maintain its arms embargo, and not to falter in this commitment,” a senior aide to Hyde said.
The bill welcomes deferral of the EU decision to terminate the arms embargo on China, but expresses concern that sales could proceed indirectly via various loopholes, since some European firms which reportedly have aided Beijing’s military build-up are also participants in leading edge US weapons programs.
Among other measures, the legislation calls on US President George W. Bush to make an annual report to Congress “identifying every foreign person of the EU that has exported to China any arms or dual use technology for military end use since January 1, 2005.”
The legislation also would require any entity seeking to export US weapons technology to China to obtain special permits from the US State Department.
Washington and its European allies have held senior-level strategic dialogue on approaches to China and the rest of Asia following the flap over the proposed arms sales.
Officials in Washington have said lifting the weapons ban on Beijing would send the Chinese a wrong message on human rights and also alter the military balance in Asia, particularly in the Taiwan Strait.
