Arms embargo 'is political discrimination against China'

Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing said yesterday China does not need 'expensive' and 'useless' weapons from the European Union, but stressed the need for an end to the arms embargo imposed after the 1989 Tiananmen incident.

The arms embargo continued a 'political discrimination' against Beijing, which was not compatible with the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and the EU, he said.

'China is committed to peaceful development. We do not have the need to buy a lot of advanced weapons from the European Union,' he told a press conference on the sidelines of the NPC meeting yesterday.

'China is a developing country. We do not have the money to buy a lot of weapons from your country that are very expensive and useless to us,' he said.

Mr Li also urged the United States to adopt a long-term strategic perspective on its relations with China, especially on the handling of the Taiwan issue.

Mentioning Taiwan in a joint US-Japan declaration on security arrangements recently was an infringement on Chinese sovereignty and interference in Beijing's domestic affairs, he said.

He said the Japan-US military alliance was a bilateral agreement established under the circumstances of the cold war. Anything exceeding that bilateral scope would cause anxiety to other Asian nations and complicate regional security.