EU OFFICIAL IN BEIJING DOWNPLAYS SPANISH COMMENTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L BEIJING 000245 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/29/2020 TAGS: PREL MASS PGOV ECON CH EU SUBJECT: EU OFFICIAL IN BEIJING DOWNPLAYS SPANISH COMMENTS ON LIFTING CHINA ARMS EMBARGO REF: BEIJING 137 Classified By: Political Minister Counselor Aubrey Carlson. Reasons 1. 4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) EU Mission Political Counselor Alexander McLachlan told PolOff January 29 that some EU member states were annoyed with Spanish Ambassador to China Blasco Villa's recent statements to Chinese media that suggested that the EU would consider lifting its arms embargo against China. The Spanish Ambassador had spoken carefully enough to avoid speaking explicitly on behalf of the EU, McLachlan said, but he had still given the Chinese the unfortunate impression that there were exploitable differences among EU member states on this issue. "This is the Spanish talking and seeking advantage at other EU states' expense," he said. "The Chinese recognize that and do not believe the Spanish, but now they are using the issue as a lever against us." ¶2. (C) McLachlan pointed out that PRC Premier Wen Jiabao had stated explicitly at the December 2009 PRC-EU Summit that China expected the EU to lift the arms embargo before the next summit, tentatively scheduled for October 2010 to coincide with the Asia-Europe Meeting. PRC media had commented recently (at least three separate articles in newspapers January 29) on the EU arms embargo and called for it to be lifted. ¶3. (C) "There isn't even a mechanism for discussing lifting the arms embargo," McLachlan said, noting that public opinion in the EU would not support such an action at this time and that, in any case, before lifting the embargo the EU would need to consult very carefully with the United States to ensure that such a move would not jeopardize Europe's access to U.S. arms and technology. ¶4. (C) McLachlan allowed that there was some support among "pragmatic" China experts in the EU for lifting the embargo. These voices argued that the European Union's code of conduct for arms exports, a legally binding document, was more stringent than the China arms embargo, which McLachlan claimed was a non-binding "political declaration." The embargo singled out China, had no legal effect and was an outsized irritant in Sino-EU relations, McLachlan argued. For these reasons, new EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton was considering whether there might be a way to "get off the back foot" on this issue with China while still keeping a de-facto embargo in place. ¶5. (C) McLachlan's prediction was that there would be no movement on lifting the embargo beyond provocative statements by Spain during its presidency, because despite the benefits to Sino-EU relations of lifting the embargo, the consequences from the United States and from Europeans angry at China's human rights record would be too much to ignore. HUNTSMAN