ANOTHER EUROPEAN TIME OF CHOOSING:

U.S. raises stakes for Europe on China ban (Graham Bowley, April 6, 2005, International Herald Tribune)

In one of the strongest warnings to date, the United States signaled Tuesday that the European Union risked seriously undermining the trans-Atlantic relationship if it lifted its embargo on selling arms to China and cautioned that Washington was likely to retaliate.

If ever "European equipment helped kill American men and women in conflict, that would not be good for the relationship," Robert Zoellick, the U.S. deputy secretary of state, told a small group of journalists in the U.S. Embassy.

Forces within the U.S. Congress are already demanding limitations on overseas defense procurement and joint defense projects, he said.

"Does it increase the chance that Congress will cut off these activities? Yes. Do I think it is a good thing? No, but it is a reality. We don't want people to be surprised."

Zoellick, who delivered his warning to Brussels on the final stage of a 13-stop tour of European capitals, said that the EU should remember its responsibilities as an increasingly important world power and that any retaliation from the United States would come in the area of trans-Atlantic defense cooperation.

They can either be on the side of democracy or China, not both.

Posted by Orrin Judd at April 6, 2005 12:00 AM