British Common Sense

Finally, there's some common sense with respect to the proposed lifting of the arms embargo against China by the European Union. And it's no surprise that it's coming from the United Kingdom.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Sunday that China's recent adoption of an anti-secession law regarding Taiwan has complicated the lifting of the European Union's arms embargo against Beijing.

The law has "created quite a difficult political environment," Straw told the British ITV television channel.

The Chinese parliament last Monday approved a anti-secession law that calls for the use of force if Taiwan declares its independence from mainland China. Beijing considers the island as an inalienable part of Chinese territory.

"Politically there are problems and these problems have actually got more difficult rather than less difficult, not least because there hasn't been much movement by China in respect of human rights," Straw said.

Now, I'm not very optimistic about this in the long run, because the very fact that the Brits are talking about doing this along with the French is a bad sign. However, Mr. Straw's comments are spot-on. China puts on a happy face and pushes all of the human rights abuses under the rug in order to woo the European Union. The European Union takes the bait, and China responds by passing "anti-secession legislation" against Taiwan. The whole thing's ridiculous, but at least the Brits are willing to come out and say so.