Wikileaks - DXLVIII
88490 12/7/2006 9:35 06MADRID3007 Embassy Madrid CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN 06STATE194456 VZCZCXRO8764 PP RUEHAG RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR DE RUEHMD #3007 3410935 ZNY CCCCC ZZH P 070935Z DEC 06 FM AMEMBASSY MADRID TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1421 INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHBM/AMEMBASSY BUCHAREST PRIORITY 1390 RUEHSF/AMEMBASSY SOFIA PRIORITY 0723 RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO PRIORITY 0667 RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 0659 RUEHLA/AMCONSUL BARCELONA PRIORITY 2276 RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 0275 RUEHIN/AIT TAIPEI PRIORITY 0064 RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY C O N F I D E N T I A L MADRID 003007
SIPDIS
SENSITIVE SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/07/2016 TAGS: PARM, PREL, PGOV, PHUM, EUN, SP, CH SUBJECT: DEMARCHE TO SPAIN ON CHINA ARMS EMBARGO
REF: STATE 194456
Classified By: DCM Hugo Llorens for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)
1. (C) The DCM discussed the EU's reconsideration of the China Arms Embargo with MFA Director General for Foreign Policy Rafael Dezcallar on December 5. Dezcallar assured the DCM that Spain is not seeking to lift the embargo, nor would it support such an effort. He noted that he had recently visited Tokyo and heard strong objections from Japanese officials to any thought of lifting the embargo. Dezcallar expressed his personal opinion that the embargo would be unsustainable in the long term. He said that today's China is not the same as the China of Tiananmen Square and has changed for the better. Spain views China as a conservative power that has not taken a destabilizing or threatening posture in world affairs. Dezcallar said that Spain has been following with interest China's growth into a major economic power, and he speculated that future negotiations on the arms embargo would likely be tied to concessions on transparency on arms procurement, cooperation on non-proliferation matters, and reforms in governance and human rights. Dezcallar reiterated that Spain's official position is to support the embargo.
2. (SBU) Separately, MFA Subdirector General for the European Union Carlos Fernandez-Arias told Poloff on December 5 that Spain would support language in the GAERC conclusions to the effect that the European Union would commit to study and consider alterations to the embargo at such time when the political and human rights situation in China has improved. He said the conclusions should remain general and not cite specific concerns because it ought not be seen as a list of conditions for lifting the embargo. Fernandez-Arias added that Spain would not support any change in European posture that failed to take into account the legitimate security concerns of China's neighbors, and he acknowledged that the United States considers itself a neighbor in the security context.
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Llorens
