US repeats worries over arms embargo

The US State Department repeated its call for the European Union not to end its arms embargo against China, saying such measures were important to send China a message that its record on human rights is unacceptable. Speaking at a seminar in Tokyo, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton said arms by the European Union and Russia were a "very grave concern" and could threaten strategic stability in East Asia. The European Union embargo on major arms sales to Beijing, imposed following the Tiananmen crackdown in 1989, is widely expected to be lifted this year. Bolton said a particular worry was that sophisticated computer and communications technology, known as "battlefield management," will end up in the hands of the Chinese. "American technology licensed to European companies might also find its way to China, so that we would, in effect, face our own technology being used against us," he said. For its part China has described the embargo as a relic of the Cold War.