Big News Network.com Monday 19th April, 2004
The European Union informed Beijing Sunday there would be no early lifting of its arms trade embargo on China, in place since 1989.
The ban was imposed after China’s crackdown that year on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.
France had pushed to end the ban, the BBC reported, but most EU states insisted on clear evidence of an improvement in Beijing’s human rights practices.
The Chinese foreign minister called the arms ban a relic of the Cold War, but was was philosophic about its continuance.
All good things take time, Li Zhaoxing said after a meeting with senior EU officials in Ireland. This is up to all our European friends.
Yan Sham-Shackleton Online 