Catherine Ashton has recommended to EU leaders to drop an arms embargo on China as part of a major foreign policy review which urges the Union to boost relations with Beijing in order to remain relevant on the world stage. Please read the article in the EUobserver here:
“The current arms embargo is a major impediment for developing stronger EU-China co-operation on foreign policy and security matters. The EU should assess its practical implication and design a way forward,” she said in a 19-page strategy paper preented at the EU summit in Brussels on Friday morning (17 December) and seen by EUobserver.
Looking at EU relations with China, Russia and the US in the context of “a different, more complex world” defined by the emergence of new powers, Ms Ashton warned that the US will turn away from the EU unless it becomes more influential in Asia.
“Europe is no longer the main strategic preoccupation of US foreign policy … The US has recognised the need for an increased engagement with Asia and there is a risk it will see the EU as a less relevant partner given our relative strategic weakness there,” she explained.
The EU foreign policy chief’s vision for future EU-China relations contains a human rights element. “The EU should continue to work for the release of individual political detainees through active diplomacy,” the paper says.
