Tokyo warns against lifting of arms ban

Japan added its voice to US concerns over plans by the European Union to lift its 15-year-old arms embargo against China. In talks with visiting UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said the issue raised serious concerns over peace and security in East Asia. Straw, who later traveled on to Beijing, said the EU understood Japanese concerns, adding that a final decision still had yet to be made. Earlier Straw told British MPs he expected the embargo, imposed in the wake of the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, to be lifted within six months.