Koizumi opposes sales to China
The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse
Monday, March 28, 2005
Tokyo wary of call by Paris and Berlin to end arms embargo
TOKYO Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told visiting President Jacques Chirac of France on Sunday that Japan strongly opposed the lifting of a European embargo on arms sales to China. And he said his government would not give up its campaign to provide a site for an experimental fusion reactor also sought by France.
France and Germany have been leading a push to end a 16-year European arms embargo imposed after China's military crushed student-led opposition protests in Tiananmen Square in Beijing in 1989. But Tokyo and its top ally, Washington, have been wary of such a move amid a military buildup by Beijing.
"We told the president that we are against it," Koizumi said in a news conference with Chirac following their summit meeting talks. "Japan is worried about the lifting of the embargo, and we are strongly opposed to this European decision."
Koizumi pointed out that while Japan has been steadily decreasing its military expenditures, China has increased its military budget at a rate of more than 10 percent a year over the past decade.
"It is a question of security," Koizumi said, noting tensions in the Taiwan Strait, which recently increased after China passed a law authorizing a military attack if Taiwan pursues formal independence. The two sides split in 1949 amid civil war, but China still claims the self-ruled island of Taiwan as its own territory. "I emphasized that it's necessary to take all necessary measures to avoid tension in matters of security in that region," Koizumi said of his talks with Chirac.
The European Union had planned to lift the ban by June, though that deadline has come into question amid reservations by Britain and others over the threat posed to Taiwan.
Chirac said Europe was still committed to that deadline, saying "the conditions that once justified the embargo are no longer the conditions of today."
"We believe on political grounds that China's appeal to lift it is legitimate," he said.
France and Germany have led demands for the ban to end, calling it a cold war relic that holds back trade opportunities with China's booming economy.
Of his talks with Koizumi, Chirac said: "I indicated to him that the decision of the European Union does not imply a change in exports of sensitive arms or technology to China as they are subject to rules which cannot be broken.
"Hence the decision does not mean things would change. It's a political decision."
Britain had suggested that the end of the weapons sale ban could be delayed after China gave its army legal power on March 14 to invade Taiwan if the island seeks formal independence.
Japan and France have also been at loggerheads over their vying bids to become the home of a $13 billion experimental fusion reactor, which aims to develop a clean, inexhaustible energy source over the next 35 years.
Koizumi said Sunday that Japan has "no intention" of withdrawing its candidacy to host the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor at Rokkasho in northern Japan.
France has been pushing for a site in southern Cadarache. Those funding the project - the EU, Japan, United States, China, South Korea and Russia - are split between the two proposals.
"We have agreed to pursue our talks in the matter to arrive at a solution," Koizumi said.
Chirac said he believed that Japan's propositions would permit an accord to be reached between the European Union and Japan. He did not elaborate. Chirac, who arrived in Japan on Friday for a three-day visit, also reaffirmed France's support for Japan to gain a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, and called with Tokyo for North Korea to return promptly to nuclear negotiations.
Earlier in the day, Chirac visited the Aichi Expo 2005 in western Japan, which is dedicated to sustainable development, an issue the French leader has embraced.
Saying sustainable development was "one of the most pressing problems of our century," Chirac said France and Japan should not be deterred by Washington in their pursuit of technological development that is environmentally friendly.
France and Japan are among 140 nations that have ratified a 1997 United Nations agreement to combat global warming known as the Kyoto Protocol - a pact that Washington initially signed but later renounced.
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