(Please contact Free Tibet Campaign if acting after 30 June 2005)

In what can be seen as a victory for human rights groups worldwide, the European Union (EU) decided not to lift the 15 year old arms embargo on China at the recent EU-China Summit at The Hague on 8 December. However, the departing Dutch EU Presidency gave notice that this decision would be revisited in the course of the Luxembourg EU Presidency to allow for a tightening up of the EU Code of Conduct on Arms Export and that there was a possibility that it would be lifted. It has also been included as a late agenda item in an internal EU Summit in Brussels on 17 December thus indicating the seriousness of both the proposal to lift the embargo and the opposition to it. Proponents of lifting the embargo argued that it was outdated and that human rights concerns could best be served by using the current EU Code of Conduct on Arms Export. However, as organisations such as Amnesty International have pointed out, the EU Code is a code full of holes; it is a political rather than a legally binding agreement and it is subject to even wider interpretations than the embargo of what is acceptable to export.

The pressure to lift the embargo came at the instigation of France and Germany following intense pressure from China who had identified it as a major strategic objective of its relationship with EU. The US Government was firmly opposed to the lifting of the embargo, fearing China would use the opportunity to purchase advanced weaponry thus posing a greater threat to Taiwan. Removing the arms embargo would have also meant removing yet another incentive for China to substantively improve its human rights record and live up to its international human rights obligations.

The arms embargo was brought into effect following world-wide revulsion at the events in Tiananmen Square in 1989. It remains important for symbolic reasons; underlining China's extremely poor human rights record and occupation of Tibet. China continues to refuse to deal with the events of Tiananmen Square. To date, a number of dissidents from Tiananmen Square remain imprisoned and there is still an army occupying Tibet.

Take Action

Please write to those listed below with the following demands:

• Press the Luxembourg and the UK Governments to undertake not to remove the EU arms embargo during their respective EU Presidencies (Luxembourg from January-June 2005, the UK from July-December 2005) without substantive and sustained improvements in human rights in Tibet and China.

• Call on both governments to link the removal of the arms embargo to serious progress in the ongoing dialogue process between representatives of the Dalai Lama and the Chinese Government.

Luxembourg holds the EU Presidency for 6 months from January 2005.

1. Prime Minister of Luxembourg
Name: Mr Jean-Claude Juncker
Address: Ministry of State
4, rue de la Congrégation
L - 1352 Luxembourg
Fax: + (00) 352 461 720
Email: Ministere.Etat@me.etat.lu
Salutation: Dear Prime Minister

The UK will hold the EU Presidency for 6 months from July 2005.

2. UK Under Secretary of State (China & Human Rights)
Name: Bill Rammell MP
Address: Foreign and Commonwealth Office
19 King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH
Fax: +44 (0)20 7008 2988
Email: Rammell.general@fco.gov.uk
Salutation: Dear Minister

Prime Minister Tony Blair will be the head of the UK EU Presidency. Please write to Bill Rammell in the interim.

Please send copies of any responses you receive to Free Tibet Campaign, as this helps us to monitor the situation.