Artykuły

Artykuł pochodzi z pisma "Guardian"

Leader
Saturday January 22, 2005
The Guardian

Britain and its European partners are desperate for an improvement in relations with the US as the second Bush administration gets down to work. But disagreement over plans to end the EU's 15-year arms embargo on China could become a serious transatlantic spat. Jack Straw, visiting Beijing, has been telling his hosts that the ban, imposed after the Tiananmen Square massacre, will be lifted in the coming months, though not before President Bush's fence-mending trip to Europe in February. Objections in Washington, especially in the defence department and on Capitol Hill, focus on fears that hi-tech European kit could help China in a future confrontation with Taiwan - heavily armed by American defence manufacturers. US officials warn that Mr Straw's suggestion that this is just a "presentational" problem underestimates the seriousness of the issue.
Pressure for change has been building up for several years, with France and Germany scrambling to sign lucrative deals with the world's fastest-growing economy, and which Jacques Chirac in particular sees as Europe's partner in the "multi-polar world" to which he aspires. It is true that China is not in the same pariah league as Burma and Zimbabwe - though an EU-China dialogue on human rights has produced little improvement on Tibet, dissidents and basic freedoms. Europeans argue that the embargo is now largely symbolic. But the amount of "non-lethal" equipment sold in the year to 2003 doubled. And there are doubts about the effectiveness of an non-binding EU code of conduct to ensure China cannot acquire weapons for "internal repression or external aggression". Far greater transparency is needed.
The issue is complicated by the fact that European manufacturers are itching to sell dual-use technology and resent the dominance of US companies which circumvented the American embargo by turning a blind eye to sales via Israel. It has added resonance in the US because of deep suspicion of China and Bush's emphasis on tyranny - contrasting with the businesslike tone of European pronouncements. There are ambiguities on both sides of this argument and neither has a monopoly on realpolitik. But human rights issues have not been adequately addressed: as Amnesty International points out, no one has yet been punished for the Tiananmen killings. Strikingly, Mr Straw's visit came as the Chinese media maintained its silence on the death of Zhao Ziyang, the communist party reformer who backed the 1989 student protests - and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.


acquire- otrzymywać
adequately- adekwatnie
ambiguity- niejasność, nieścisłość
aspire- aspirować
back- popierać
ban- zakaz; zakazywać
circumvent- obchodzić (przepisy); uniemożliwiać, zapobiegać
code of conduct- kodeks postępowania
defence- obrona
(to be) desperate for- bardzo czegoś potrzebowac, bardzo czegoś chciec
dissident- dysydent
fence-mending- zmierzający do ugody, pogodzenia; poprawiający stosunki
get down to- zabierać się do
impose- narzucać
itch- mieć wielką ochotę na
lethal-śmiertelny ( o broni )
maintain- utrzymywać
manufacturer- producent
non-binding- nie wiążący
objection- sprzeciw, zastrzeżenie
point out- wskazywać
pronouncement- wypowiedź, oświadczenie
resent- być urażonym, czuć urazę
scramble- walczyć (o)
spat- sprzeczka, kłótnia
strikingly- uderzająco
transparency- przezroczystość, przejrzystość
turn a blind eye to sth- udawać, że się czegoś nie dostrzega
underestimate- nie doceniać

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