Pentagon calls on European Union to retain ban on export of sensitive military equipment to People’s Republic

US opposition to a European Union proposal to lift an arms embargo on China stiffened last week, but that stance could change if European governments adopt export control laws, according to the US Department of Defense. A DoD report released on 19 July raises alarms about Beijing’s growing military strength, which prompted Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to again call on the EU to reject a proposal to lift the 16-year-old export ban.

However, Lt Gen Jeffrey Kohler, head of the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which controls exports of sensitive US arms equipment to foreign governments, says the dispute can be avoided. If proper controls are created before the ban is lifted, “there’s not a problem that I’m aware of”, he says. “It’s not that we care about everything that Europe could export to China. We care about some very sensitive technology. We care about [China’s] ability to improve their military capability faster than they are doing today.”

Sensitive equipment includes radar, stealth, submarines and engines, Kohler says. The DoD report adds that Washington is concerned about the transfer of airborne early-warning aircraft, advanced space technology and electronic components for precision-guided missiles. “In my opinion, the types of controls that the Europeans have offered so far don’t meet our requirements to ensure that those things that tend toward the very high end of technology are controlled, limited and not exported to China,” Kohler told Flight International. “We’re looking for a little bit more than a code of conduct. We’re looking for laws that prohibit export and that there are penalties to be paid if that happens – not the fact that there is a code that may or may not be enforced.”

The DoD report concludes that the consequences of lifting the embargo are “serious and numerous” and criticises the EU’s enforcement tools as “inadequate”. Involving European defence companies in Chinese arms competitions may increase the pressure on the EU to relax export control restrictions, it says. China also would have more access to sensitive technology, which then could be shared with Beijing’s arms trading partners such as Iran, Sudan and Zimbabwe, the report says.

STEPHEN TRIMBLE / WASHINGTON DC

Source: Flight International