Don’t arm China

Brussels

European Union foreign ministers this week rejected France’s request to lift an E.U. ban on selling weapons to China. The E.U. imposed the ban after Beijing killed pro-democracy protesters in Tiananmen Square, in 1989. E.U. law requires European countries to ensure that the weapons they sell are not used for internal repression or foreign aggression, or anywhere serious human-rights violations have occurred. The E.U. found China guilty of such violations just last year. But French President Jacques Chirac called this week for the embargo to be lifted, saying it “no longer corresponds with the political reality of the contemporary world.” E.U. ministers voted 14 to 1 to keep the ban.

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