Whinin' China

Apparently the Chinese are unhappy that the European is reconsidering the possibility of lifting the arms embargo on account of recent aggressive legislation against Taiwanese "secession."

UPDATE: Once again, President Chirac tries to have it both ways.

French President Jacques Chirac said that lifting an EU arms ban on China "does not mean selling arms" to Beijing, in an interview with the Japanese daily Asahi Shimbun released Tuesday.

"I want to reassure the Japanese who have expressed concerns," he told the newpaper, according to the transcript of the interview released to reporters accompanying Chirac at European Union (EU) summit in Brussels.

"Lifting the embargo does not mean selling arms. Europeans have no intention of commiting themselves to a policy of arms exports to China," he said, adding: "Neither does lifting the embargo mean ending arms export controls."

The EU arms sales ban was slapped on Beijing after 1989 massacre of pro-democracy students in Beijing, but France has led a group of EU countries arguing that it is outdates and should be lifted.

Well, let's see here. Has China initiated a policy to promote democracy? No. Has China's human rights record improved since 1989? No. And we're supposed to think that the embargo is oudated?

And what's this absolute nonsense about not selling weapons to China? "We want to lift the ban, but we're not going to sell weapons to them. You know, not like we did for Iraq in the '90's." Who does Jacques Chirac think he's fooling? It reminds me of a prominent American politician who smoked cannabis, but didn't inhale.