European Union arms embargo on the People's Republic of China
Encyclopedia
Relations between the European Union
and the People's Republic of China
were established in 1975 and the two are each others' largest trading partners. A major point of contention in relations is the EU's arms ban to China.
However political and security co-operation was hampered with China seeing little chance of headway there. Europe was leading the desire for NATO expansion and intervention in Kosovo
, which China opposed as it saw them as extending US influence. However by 2001 China moderated its anti-US stance in the hopes that Europe would cancel its arms embargo but pressure from the US led to the embargo remaining in place. Due to this, China saw the EU as being too weak, divided and dependent on the US to be a significant power. Furthermore, it shared too many of the US' concerns about China's authoritarian system and threats of force over Taiwan
. Even in the economic sphere, China was angered at protectionist measures against its exports to Europe and the EU's opposition to giving China the status of market economy
in order to join the WTO
.
However, economic cooperation continued, with the EU's "New Asia Strategy", the first Asia–Europe Meeting in 1996, the 1998 EU-China summit and frequent policy documents desiring closer partnerships with China. Although the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis dampened investors enthusiasm, China weathered the crisis well and continued to be a major focus of EU trade. Chinese leaders were anxious to return the European interest and made high level visits throughout the 1990s, visits that were accompanied by major EU sales to China. Trade in 1993 saw a 63% increase from the previous year. China became Europe's fourth largest trading partner at this time. Even following the financial crisis in 1997, EU-Chinese trade increased by 15% in 1998.
France was leading the EU's desire for closer ties in order to establish a multipolar world and was the first, along with Russia, to establish strategic partnerships with China. However EU-China have experienced a cool down after China canceled the EU-China yearly summit in November 2008. This was apparently caused due to French President Sarkozy's plans to meet with the Dalai Lama.
China and consumer protection:
European Union, China and the United States faced in the context of World Shanghai Expo and the China-EU Summit, the United States, consumer issues and product safety. This section lists the reference documents. The press release from the European Commission, the speech of the President of the Commission as well as more specific information on European policy in the field of consumer protection.
There have been some disputes, such as the dispute over textile imports into the EU (see below). The PRC and EU are increasingly seeking cooperation, for example China joined the Galileo project
investing €230 million and has been buying Airbus planes in return for a construction plant to be built in China; in 2006 China placed an order for 150 planes during a visit by the French President. Also, despite the arms embargo, a leaked US diplomatic cable suggested that in 2003 the EU sold China €400 million of "defence exports" and later, other military grade submarine and radar technology.
bailouts. China assisted Europe by buying billions of euros' worth of junk Eurozone
bonds
; in particular from Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Some analysts suggested China was buying political influence in the EU but China maintains they are building strong trade ties and supporting the European economy so that trade issues can move ahead more smoothly.
The EU arms embargo on the China was imposed by the EU on the People's Republic of China in response to its suppression of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
. China insists that the embargo be removed, calling it "very puzzling" and amounting to "political discrimination". However, the EU is currently not planning to remove the embargo due to the continuing human rights situation in China. In January 2010, China once again asked that the embargo be removed, saying the sanctions were based on "prejudice".
has indicated her opposition to a lifting of the embargo, whereas her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder
, had been in favour.
The European Parliament
has consistently argued against removing the embargo, passing resolutions critical of China and in support of Taiwan. However, High Representative
Catherine Ashton put forward plans for lifting the embargo in 2010, arguing that "The current arms embargo is a major impediment for developing stronger EU-China co-operation on foreign policy and security matters." The Chinese ambassador to the EU Song Zhe
agreed, noting "It doesn't make any sense to maintain the embargo ... With it [in place] we will develop our own arms even faster. So, at the end of the day, it is the [arms] companies in Europe that are losing out." The plan was rejected then but is thought to still be on the drawing board.
, which also has an arms embargo on China, fears that lifting the embargo will create a technology transfer
that will increase the capabilities of the People's Liberation Army
. The US has stated that it will protect Taiwan (ROC)
if invaded by the PRC, so it fears that European arms would be used against the US if such a situations occurs. The US has been influential in keeping the EU ban in place. The US sees China as a military threat and pressured the EU in keeping it in place, but they have not got the issue off the agenda. In 2011 the Chinese EU ambassador suggested that in future the EU should "make decisions on its own".
Similarly, Japan
has been at the forefront of lobbying efforts against any attempt to remove restrictions on arm sales to Beijing
. Japan's government, particularly hard line members of the government cabinet
, fear that any such move will alter the balance of power
in South east Asia strongly in favour of China at Japan's expense. China described Japan's position as "provocative". Japan stated the EU's proposal to lift it in 2010 was a "mistake" which caused great "concern" in Japan.
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
and the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
were established in 1975 and the two are each others' largest trading partners. A major point of contention in relations is the EU's arms ban to China.
Agreements
Relations are governed by the 1985 EU-China Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Since 2007, negotiations have been underway to upgrade this to a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement and there are already 24 sectoral dialogues and agreements from environmental protection to education.History
After the end of the Cold War, relations with Europe were not as high a priority for China as its relations with the US, Japan and other Asian powers. However interest in closer relations started to rise as economic contacts increased and interest in a multipolar system grew. Although initially imposing an arms embargo on China after Tiananmen (see arms embargo section below), European leaders eased off China's isolation. China's growing economy became the focus for many European visitors and in turn Chinese businessmen began to make frequent trips to Europe. Europe's interest in China led to the EU becoming unusually active with China during the 1990s with high-level exchanges. EU-Chinese trade increased faster than the Chinese economy itself, tripling in ten years from USD14.3 billion in 1985 to USD45.6 billion in 1994.However political and security co-operation was hampered with China seeing little chance of headway there. Europe was leading the desire for NATO expansion and intervention in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, which China opposed as it saw them as extending US influence. However by 2001 China moderated its anti-US stance in the hopes that Europe would cancel its arms embargo but pressure from the US led to the embargo remaining in place. Due to this, China saw the EU as being too weak, divided and dependent on the US to be a significant power. Furthermore, it shared too many of the US' concerns about China's authoritarian system and threats of force over Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
. Even in the economic sphere, China was angered at protectionist measures against its exports to Europe and the EU's opposition to giving China the status of market economy
Market economy
A market economy is an economy in which the prices of goods and services are determined in a free price system. This is often contrasted with a state-directed or planned economy. Market economies can range from hypothetically pure laissez-faire variants to an assortment of real-world mixed...
in order to join the WTO
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization is an organization that intends to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade , which commenced in 1948...
.
However, economic cooperation continued, with the EU's "New Asia Strategy", the first Asia–Europe Meeting in 1996, the 1998 EU-China summit and frequent policy documents desiring closer partnerships with China. Although the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis dampened investors enthusiasm, China weathered the crisis well and continued to be a major focus of EU trade. Chinese leaders were anxious to return the European interest and made high level visits throughout the 1990s, visits that were accompanied by major EU sales to China. Trade in 1993 saw a 63% increase from the previous year. China became Europe's fourth largest trading partner at this time. Even following the financial crisis in 1997, EU-Chinese trade increased by 15% in 1998.
France was leading the EU's desire for closer ties in order to establish a multipolar world and was the first, along with Russia, to establish strategic partnerships with China. However EU-China have experienced a cool down after China canceled the EU-China yearly summit in November 2008. This was apparently caused due to French President Sarkozy's plans to meet with the Dalai Lama.
China and consumer protection:
European Union, China and the United States faced in the context of World Shanghai Expo and the China-EU Summit, the United States, consumer issues and product safety. This section lists the reference documents. The press release from the European Commission, the speech of the President of the Commission as well as more specific information on European policy in the field of consumer protection.
Trade
The EU is China's largest trading partner, and China is the EU's largest. Most of this trade is in industrial and manufactured goods. Between 2009 and 2010 alone EU exports to China increased by 38% and China's exports to the EU increased by 31%.| Direction of trade | Goods (2010) | Services (2009) | FDI (2009) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EU-PRC | €113.1 billion | €18 billion | €5.3 billion |
| PRC-EU | €281.9 billion | €13 billion | €0.3 billion |
There have been some disputes, such as the dispute over textile imports into the EU (see below). The PRC and EU are increasingly seeking cooperation, for example China joined the Galileo project
Galileo positioning system
Galileo is a global navigation satellite system currently being built by the European Union and European Space Agency . The €20 billion project is named after the famous Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei...
investing €230 million and has been buying Airbus planes in return for a construction plant to be built in China; in 2006 China placed an order for 150 planes during a visit by the French President. Also, despite the arms embargo, a leaked US diplomatic cable suggested that in 2003 the EU sold China €400 million of "defence exports" and later, other military grade submarine and radar technology.
Textiles conflict
There is a dispute over textile imports into the EU (the Bra wars) with domestic European manufactures losing out to cheaper Chinese imported goods. The EU and China have finally reached an agreement ending the 'conflict of textiles', which poisoned their relations for several weeks. Both parties (the Chinese government on the one hand, European Commission on the other) have finally found Monday, Sept. 5, a deal that appears to end the dispute between Beijing and Brussels since the end of July. Under the terms of the agreement, China agreed, in exchange for the release of 80 million items held in European ports, only half of these are deducted from its export quotas for 2006.Debt purchases
During the European sovereign debt crisis, several European countries required EU and International Monetary FundInternational Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
bailouts. China assisted Europe by buying billions of euros' worth of junk Eurozone
Eurozone
The eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
bonds
Government bond
A government bond is a bond issued by a national government denominated in the country's own currency. Bonds are debt investments whereby an investor loans a certain amount of money, for a certain amount of time, with a certain interest rate, to a company or country...
; in particular from Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain. Some analysts suggested China was buying political influence in the EU but China maintains they are building strong trade ties and supporting the European economy so that trade issues can move ahead more smoothly.
Arms embargo
Tiananmen Square protests of 1989
The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
. China insists that the embargo be removed, calling it "very puzzling" and amounting to "political discrimination". However, the EU is currently not planning to remove the embargo due to the continuing human rights situation in China. In January 2010, China once again asked that the embargo be removed, saying the sanctions were based on "prejudice".
Internal EU divisions
A leaked US cable indicates the internal divisions in the EU on the ban during negotiations in 2004. France viewed the ban as anachronistic and refused to consider attaching reforms in China as a condition, stating that "China would not accept human rights conditionality." Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Greece, Italy and the UK are all broadly in the French camp. Germany, Denmark, Netherlands and Sweden wished to attach a lifting of the ban to "specific Chinese steps on human rights." All agreed in principle if certain conditions were met then the ban should be lifted. France and the UK are known to maintain their positions in 2011, with Germany a possible important swing state. Various EU heads of state have objected to the embargo's cancellation or supported its continued existence in the immediate future. Angela MerkelAngela Merkel
Angela Dorothea Merkel is the current Chancellor of Germany . Merkel, elected to the Bundestag from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, has been the chairwoman of the Christian Democratic Union since 2000, and chairwoman of the CDU-CSU parliamentary coalition from 2002 to 2005.From 2005 to 2009 she led a...
has indicated her opposition to a lifting of the embargo, whereas her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Schröder
Gerhard Fritz Kurt Schröder is a German politician, and was Chancellor of Germany from 1998 to 2005. A member of the Social Democratic Party of Germany , he led a coalition government of the SPD and the Greens. Before becoming a full-time politician, he was a lawyer, and before becoming Chancellor...
, had been in favour.
The European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
has consistently argued against removing the embargo, passing resolutions critical of China and in support of Taiwan. However, High Representative
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy
The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy is the main co-ordinator and representative of the Common Foreign and Security Policy within the European Union...
Catherine Ashton put forward plans for lifting the embargo in 2010, arguing that "The current arms embargo is a major impediment for developing stronger EU-China co-operation on foreign policy and security matters." The Chinese ambassador to the EU Song Zhe
Song Zhe
Song Zhe is a diplomat of the People's Republic of China.He is standing director-general of “The Department of West European Affairs”. Today, 2010, Song Zhe is the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to the European Union....
agreed, noting "It doesn't make any sense to maintain the embargo ... With it [in place] we will develop our own arms even faster. So, at the end of the day, it is the [arms] companies in Europe that are losing out." The plan was rejected then but is thought to still be on the drawing board.
Outside pressure
The United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, which also has an arms embargo on China, fears that lifting the embargo will create a technology transfer
Technology transfer
Technology Transfer, also called Transfer of Technology and Technology Commercialisation, is the process of skill transferring, knowledge, technologies, methods of manufacturing, samples of manufacturing and facilities among governments or universities and other institutions to ensure that...
that will increase the capabilities of the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
. The US has stated that it will protect Taiwan (ROC)
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
if invaded by the PRC, so it fears that European arms would be used against the US if such a situations occurs. The US has been influential in keeping the EU ban in place. The US sees China as a military threat and pressured the EU in keeping it in place, but they have not got the issue off the agenda. In 2011 the Chinese EU ambassador suggested that in future the EU should "make decisions on its own".
Similarly, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
has been at the forefront of lobbying efforts against any attempt to remove restrictions on arm sales to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
. Japan's government, particularly hard line members of the government cabinet
Cabinet of Japan
The of Japan is the executive branch of the government of Japan. It consists of the Prime Minister and up to fourteen other members, called Ministers of State. The Prime Minister is designated by the Diet, and the remaining ministers are appointed and dismissed by the Prime Minister...
, fear that any such move will alter the balance of power
Balance of power in international relations
In international relations, a balance of power exists when there is parity or stability between competing forces. The concept describes a state of affairs in the international system and explains the behavior of states in that system...
in South east Asia strongly in favour of China at Japan's expense. China described Japan's position as "provocative". Japan stated the EU's proposal to lift it in 2010 was a "mistake" which caused great "concern" in Japan.
Other trade
Whilst the embargo remains, China buys much of its arms from Russia. China had turned to Israel for surveillance planes, but under pressure from the U.S., Israel refused to go through with the deal. Despite the ban, another leaked US cable suggested that in 2003 the EU sold €400 million of "defence exports" to China, and later approved other sales of military grade submarine and radar technology.See also
- Arms industryArms industryThe arms industry is a global industry and business which manufactures and sells weapons and military technology and equipment. It comprises government and commercial industry involved in research, development, production, and service of military material, equipment and facilities...
- Human rights in the People's Republic of ChinaHuman rights in the People's Republic of ChinaHuman rights in the People's Republic of China are a matter of dispute between the Chinese government, other countries, international NGOs, and dissidents inside the country. Organizations such as the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have accused the Chinese...
- Military budget of the People's Republic of ChinaMilitary budget of the People's Republic of ChinaThe military budget of the People's Republic of China is the portion of the overall budget of China that is allocated for the funding of the military of the People's Republic of China...
- Political status of TaiwanPolitical status of TaiwanThe controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare...
- Tiananmen Square protests of 1989Tiananmen Square protests of 1989The Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident in Chinese , were a series of demonstrations in and near Tiananmen Square in Beijing in the People's Republic of China beginning on 15 April 1989...
- Wassenaar ArrangementWassenaar ArrangementThe Wassenaar Arrangement is a multilateral export control regime with 40 participating states including many former COMECON countries.It is the successor to the Cold war-era Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls , and was...
External links
- EU-China relations: a maturing partnership, EU Commission
- EU-China relations: Disappointment after Copenhagen, East Asia Forum
- understandingchina.eu
- EU text of 26-27 June 1989 declaration on China embargo
- Overview of press reports and editorials
- European Union’s Arms Embargo on China - Implications and Options for U.S. Policy, Congressional Research Service The Library of Congress
- Francis Snyder, The European Union and China, 1949–2008: basic documents and commentary (Hart, 2009). Review by Salvatore Finamore in Web Journal of Contemporary Legal Issues, no. 3, 2010.
- The EU Arms Embargo on China: a Swedish Perspective, Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), 2010