European Companies Want Chinese Technology Trade Ban Lifted

European companies are pushing for the European Union to lift restrictions on technology transfers to China, Xinhua News Service reported last week (see GSN, Oct. 29).

“The ban on sensitive high technology sales to China, imposed since 1989, is obsolete,” said Philippe Camus, chief executive officer of the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, also known as EADS. European firms have already begun cooperating with China outside the EU regulations, he said.

“EADS is to accompany the expansion of sales in China with that of industrial and technological cooperation with Chinese partners,” Camus added.

On Oct. 13, Beijing asked EU officials to end the “out-of-date” ban.

There is, however, no immediate movement to lift the ban, according to EU Ambassador to China Klaus Eberman.

“It is a question strongly linked to human rights and public opinion,” he said last month (Xinhua News Service, Nov. 26).

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