Wednesday, March 23, 2005

Chinese Arms: Not in Our Name (II)

A week ago today, the blog kicked off the campaign to stop the EU from lifting the arms embargo on China. We wrote:

"The EU policy to lift the Chinese arms embargo is intellectually barren, morally malevolent and a political dead-end. This blog will have nothing to do with the repulsive and inexplicable politicking behind this disgraceful abdication of European responsibility and says, "Arms to China? Not In Our Name!"

"We expect that millions of Europeans will share our anger and disgust and will force the EU to abandon its policy before June, when the matter comes to a head."

A week's a long time in politics and the blog has been taken aback by the support from, among others, Prince Ferfried von Hohenzollern and Richard Gere (see Comments to the launch post), and hints from the British government that the lifting of the embargo is becoming increasingly untenable.

First indications are that the EU will indeed move away from the discredited policy. But the blog isn't counting its chickens yet, as it is only too clear that the French - to name just one of the governments eager to get European arms rolling off to China again - lose no ingenuity in protecting to the death projects they've decided are essential to their own amour-propre.

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