Protesting the lifting of the EU Arms Embargo
Edinburgh, March 10 – This afternoon members of the Edinburgh University Tibet Society (EUTS), with the support of Chris Ballance MSP (Green), padlocked a 1000sq ft banner to the Scott Monument on Princes Street. The missile-shaped banner read ‘No Arms to China’ and was unfurled to protest against the proposed lifting of the EU arms embargo on China and to mark March 10th as Tibetan Uprising Day. Police arrived and the banner was removed by EUTS after half an hour. No arrests were made.
“China has one of the worst human rights records in the world; the increased sale of arms to this Chinese government will provide them further tools for oppression and invasion,” said Iain Thom, President of EUTS. “China executes more people each year than the rest of the world put together. The torture endemic in Chinese prisons, the continued oppression in Tibet and Xinjiang, the repression of dissent and free speech, and the threat to Taiwan of invasion are all examples that justify the embargo.”
Jack Straw has voiced his support for the lifting of the embargo by June 2005 after pressure from France and Germany. Washington strongly opposes this move. EU arms technology will increase the current range of China’s army allowing the possibility of invasion across the Taiwan Straight.
The embargo was imposed in 1989 after the killing of hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. It would be replaced by an EU Code of Conduct that is not legally binding and open to interpretation by individual governments.
“Before the Embargo is lifted we want to see real improvements in human-rights for all the peoples of China,” said Thom. “Fourteen people are still in prison as a result of their involvement in the protests at Tiananmen Square and the government still refuse to admit accountability”
Today, March 10th, is the forty sixth anniversary of Tibetan Uprising Day. In 1949-1950 the Chinese People’s Liberation Army invaded and annexed Tibet. In 1959 the Tibetan people rose up against the aristocracy and the occupying Chinese forces. 87,000 Tibetans are thought to have been killed in the ensuing reprisals.
“The Tibetans rose up in 1959 to defend their way of life. The threat that China poses to its neighbours is as real today as it was then.”
Contact information: Iain Thom, President EUTS: 07730609317
