kpih
03-18-2005, 01:08 AM
China Tells EU It Wants Peace With Taiwan
By PAUL AMES
LUXEMBOURG (AP) - Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing assured the European Union on Thursday that his country wants a peaceful end to its standoff with Taiwan, despite a new law authorizing force if the island seeks formal independence.
He also said Beijing was committed to getting North Korea back to multiparty negotiations aimed at dissuading Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear arms ambitions.
``Our position is that the Korean peninsula should be free of nuclear weapons,'' Li told a news conference after talks with Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the EU presidency.
Li said China ``will continue its constructive role'' in bringing the Pyongyang government back to six-party talks involving Japan, the United States, China, Russia, South Korea and North Korea.
For his part, Asselborn said he would try to get all 25 EU nations to agree to lift the bloc's 15-year-old arms embargo on China by the end of June.
``We will try, with all our energy and engagement, to make it possible,'' he said. But Asselborn cautioned there were still ``issues to work out regarding the code of conduct'' governing European arm sales.
France and Germany, which are leading calls to end the ban, say Europe will maintain tight controls on sales of high-tech weapons to China. They say the embargo is outdated and should be removed to enable the EU to engage more with the emerging economic superpower.
They also are hopeful China will see lifting the embargo as a goodwill gesture that will open its rapidly expanding markets to sales of European goods, such as airliners or trains.
But the United States has appealed to Europe not to end the ban on China - instituted following the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy activists - fearing European arms sales could spark an Asian arms race and threaten Taiwan.
Beijing sought to allay concerns about Taiwan.
``China will work all out for a peaceful solution to the Taiwan question and for the peaceful reunification of our motherland,'' Li said Thursday after meeting with senior officials at the EU executive commission in Brussels, Belgium.
``There is no reason at all for anybody, for any member of the international community, to be at all concerned,'' Li said.
China's parliament adopted the new law authorizing force against Taiwan on Monday. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she expressed the EU's worries in talks with Li.
``Any cross-straits problem should be resolved by peaceful means,'' she said.
Li also discussed mounting European concerns over growing Chinese textile exports following the expiration of a global quota system on Jan. 1. Ferrero-Waldner said the EU hoped to avoid imposing new restrictions, despite mounting calls from domestic textile producers.
``The European Union wants to avoid the use of safeguards on textile imports from China, and we are counting on the cooperation of China on this issue,'' she said.
China has imposed a 1.3 percent tax on textile exports in what it says is an effort to prevent a surge in sales, and is considering other measures, including minimum prices and limiting numbers of new suppliers.
Li said China was looking for arrangements that satisfy both sides.
By PAUL AMES
LUXEMBOURG (AP) - Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing assured the European Union on Thursday that his country wants a peaceful end to its standoff with Taiwan, despite a new law authorizing force if the island seeks formal independence.
He also said Beijing was committed to getting North Korea back to multiparty negotiations aimed at dissuading Pyongyang from pursuing its nuclear arms ambitions.
``Our position is that the Korean peninsula should be free of nuclear weapons,'' Li told a news conference after talks with Luxembourg's foreign minister, Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the EU presidency.
Li said China ``will continue its constructive role'' in bringing the Pyongyang government back to six-party talks involving Japan, the United States, China, Russia, South Korea and North Korea.
For his part, Asselborn said he would try to get all 25 EU nations to agree to lift the bloc's 15-year-old arms embargo on China by the end of June.
``We will try, with all our energy and engagement, to make it possible,'' he said. But Asselborn cautioned there were still ``issues to work out regarding the code of conduct'' governing European arm sales.
France and Germany, which are leading calls to end the ban, say Europe will maintain tight controls on sales of high-tech weapons to China. They say the embargo is outdated and should be removed to enable the EU to engage more with the emerging economic superpower.
They also are hopeful China will see lifting the embargo as a goodwill gesture that will open its rapidly expanding markets to sales of European goods, such as airliners or trains.
But the United States has appealed to Europe not to end the ban on China - instituted following the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on pro-democracy activists - fearing European arms sales could spark an Asian arms race and threaten Taiwan.
Beijing sought to allay concerns about Taiwan.
``China will work all out for a peaceful solution to the Taiwan question and for the peaceful reunification of our motherland,'' Li said Thursday after meeting with senior officials at the EU executive commission in Brussels, Belgium.
``There is no reason at all for anybody, for any member of the international community, to be at all concerned,'' Li said.
China's parliament adopted the new law authorizing force against Taiwan on Monday. EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she expressed the EU's worries in talks with Li.
``Any cross-straits problem should be resolved by peaceful means,'' she said.
Li also discussed mounting European concerns over growing Chinese textile exports following the expiration of a global quota system on Jan. 1. Ferrero-Waldner said the EU hoped to avoid imposing new restrictions, despite mounting calls from domestic textile producers.
``The European Union wants to avoid the use of safeguards on textile imports from China, and we are counting on the cooperation of China on this issue,'' she said.
China has imposed a 1.3 percent tax on textile exports in what it says is an effort to prevent a surge in sales, and is considering other measures, including minimum prices and limiting numbers of new suppliers.
Li said China was looking for arrangements that satisfy both sides.