BRUSSELS — President Bush warned European leaders on Tuesday that their plan to end a 15-year arms embargo on Beijing could upset the strategic balance between China and Taiwan, and he suggested that Congress might retaliate by limiting arms sales to Europe.
The U.S. has promised to defend Taiwan in the event of an attack by Beijing, and Washington fears that lifting the embargo would allow China to acquire sensitive military technology. Although the Europeans have pledged to develop an arms shipment plan that would prevent such transfers, Bush was openly skeptical that they would be able to allay America's "deep" concerns.
"Now, whether they can or not, we'll see," Bush said at a news conference in the Belgian capital after talks with European leaders.
Bush is halfway through a four-day visit to Europe that the administration says was designed to heal diplomatic ruptures caused by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. But the clash on the Chinese arms embargo as well as a rift over how to deal with Iran and its nuclear ambitions indicate that the two sides have yet to agree on a common approach to several key international issues.
The U.S. and Europe imposed the embargo on China in 1989, several weeks after Beijing violently suppressed democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square.
Washington has steadfastly argued that China's human rights record since then does not merit a lifting of the embargo. It also fears that weapons and military technology could end up in the hands of extremists or unstable governments. But Europe maintains that it is wrong to continue lumping China with Myanmar, Sudan and Zimbabwe, the only other countries facing such an embargo.
In his remarks here, Bush said he had told French President Jacques Chirac and other European leaders that they must "sell" their arms shipment plan not only to him, but to Congress.
"There is deep concern in our country that a transfer of weapons would be a transfer of technology to China, which would change the balance of relations between China and Taiwan," Bush said at a news conference with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. Congress, he said, "will be making the decisions ... as to how to react to what will be perceived by some, perhaps, as a technology transfer to China."
The House this month passed a resolution declaring that an end to the arms embargo would be "in direct conflict with U.S. security interests" and that such action would "necessitate limitations and constraints ... that would be unwelcome on both sides of the Atlantic."
