CHINA AND THE EU

WEN JIABAO CHIDES EU OVER TREATMENT OF CHINA

The EU-China annual summit got off on a sour note Thursday when Beijing raised long standing complaints over its treatment by the bloc even as both sides lauded the relationship.

AFP

The Telegraph, September 20, 2012

Premier Wen Jiabao, in opening remarks, gave a lengthy list of achievements over the past 10 years, stressing: "We do not have major conflicts of interest."

But there was a sting in the tail when he used forceful diplomatic language to raise the issue of an EU arms embargo, imposed since the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, and the EU's refusal to treat China as a fully-fledged market economy and so lift all tariffs on Chinese goods.

"I have to be very frank in saying this ... but the solution has been elusive over the past 10 years. I deeply regret this and I hope the EU side will take greater initiative to solve these issues," he said.

EU sources had said ahead of the summit, that "we have agreed to disagree" with the Chinese on the arms embargo.

The issue continues to divide EU member states and Britain notably has refused to bend to pressure from France and Spain to review the embargo.

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