Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Euro Logic

So Europe slaps an arms embargo on China as punishment for the Tiananmen Square massacre over twenty years ago.

But the Europeans are considering lifting the embargo. Is it because China has improved in any way over the last generation? Well, no, as this article's headline indicates:

E.U. Rethinks China Arms Embargo to Improve Beijing Ties

Relations were bad so the Euros refused to sell arms to China. Relations are worse now, so Euros want to lift the ban. That makes sense.

Well, from the vantage of appeasing logic it makes sense. The Euros in favor of lifting the embargo say China is rising, so why not bow to that reality?

On the bright side, the French--who are willing to sell amphibious warfare ships to Russia--are now against lifting the arms embargo.