Lifting the Ban

About a week ago I posted about the proposed end to a European Union embargo on arms sales to China. Here's more.

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has defended plans to end the European Union's arms embargo on China, despite opposition from the US and Japan.

Mr Straw, visiting Beijing, noted arms embargoes applied to China, Burma and Zimbabwe but not to North Korea, which he said had a terrible rights record.

The EU imposed its arms ban on China in 1989 after troops opened fire on protestors in Tiananmen Square.

Okay, allow me to explain. If your argument is "we apply these embargoes to China, Burma, and Zimbabwe, but not North Korea," then the solution is not to lift the embargo on China. The solution is to impose an arms embargo on North Korea.

Has China backed off on the human rights violations? Of course not. They've whitewashed the whole thing, but look at China's treatment of Hong Kong. China has violated the treaty, the treaty the entered into with the British, by denying Hong Kong's residents their right to free elections.

The money shot?

Tory foreign affairs spokesman Michael Ancram said lifting the arms embargo would be "irresponsible" and would damage Britain's relations with the US.

He said Mr Straw was "naive beyond belief" if he accepted China's claim it does not want the ban lifted in order to buy weapons.

"The French want the embargo lifted because they want to sell arms to China; the Chinese want it lifted because they want to buy arms and battlefield technology from Europe," Mr Ancram added.

Abso-friggin'-lutely right.