China: EU arms embargo

Fire of Liberty

I guess the Europeans will do anything to sell weapons to the Chinese, especially after reading this article in The Financial Times. Today, the EU delegation which was sent to the US to change President Bush and Congress's mind on the arms embargo, left the nation's capital with a definitive no. The EU delegation argued that the current embargo is full of holes and would be replaced with a more stringent policy of enforcement through the presentation of more transparent records of current, future and failed deals. The only problem with this is that the current embargo wouldn't be broken if the EU member states had abided by the embargo and prevented the sale of $535 million worth of weapons. What part of "embargo" don't the folks in the EU understand?

To make matters worse, the US noted its objection to China's ongoing human rights violations to which the EU noted that the communist regime has improved its record. I guess sending North Korean refugees back to North Korea for a certain death, forced labor, political persecution, religious persecution (Falun Gung, Uygur), as well as the occupation of Tibet are considered improvements in the EU parlance. You gotta love those EU bureaucrats who will appease a brutal regime for the sake of a millions of euros.

It's sad that the Europeans are selling weapons to a nation that will use against us and are allies if a war is sparked in the Taiwan Strait by China. When the Chinese pass an anti-secession law that calls for war with Taiwan if they declare independence, the US isn't in the mood to give a yes vote on these arm sells to China. This country stands for far greater principles like liberty, freedom , and democracy and will never back off of these principles for the sake of money. Yes, we've played FDR's SOB strategy during WWII and the Cold War to defeat Germany, Japan, and the Soviets but today there's a new sheriff in town who doesn't play these games. Congrats to President Bush & Congress for kicking the EU to the curb on this issue.