Brussels
imposed the ban after Chinese authorities killed hundreds of pro-democracy
protesters in Beijing's Tiananmen Square in 1989 but some nations, including
France, have pushed for an end to the embargo.
Fierce
opposition from the United States and Japan, coupled with China's enactment of
a law threatening military action if Taiwan declared independence, made a
decision to lift the ban politically impossible last year.
Fierce
opposition from the United States and Japan, coupled with China's enactment of
a law threatening military action if Taiwan declared independence, made a
decision to lift the ban politically impossible last year.
British
Foreign Minister Margaret Beckett said there was still disagreement within the
25-member bloc.
"There
is no consensus within the EU so it seems to me it is not an issue likely to be
decided in the near future," Beckett told a British parliamentary
committee.
Last
year EU officials had worked on replacing the ban with a tightened code of
conduct on arms exports to ensure weapon sales to China did not increase
overall.
European Commission
President Jose Manuel Barroso said in April China had to make progress on human
rights before the EU would lift the ban.