Germany and France want to arm China

Politics International Politics
1

Despite every nation in the region being against such a move, despite the US and many European nations being against the move, the Taipei Times reported yesterday that Germany and France are keen to pressure the other members of the EU to raise the ban on selling weapons to China. Chirac thinks that 15 years after Tiananmen is really plenty of time.

So, who is the unilaterialist now? Against the wishes of India, Vietnam, Taiwan, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, South Korea, Japan and the United States, plus many nations in Europe, Germany and France are once again strongarming the rest to follow their bidding. Just like with the breakdown of the stability pact, Berlin and Paris have once again showed that for them “Might is Right.”

Furthermore, they will be selling weapons to China (which has no defensive needs that are not being met) but will rather increase its offensive capabilities in precisely an area where America has many defense commitments.

This is just like their sales to Iraq and Iran. Now, China. When has the US ever sold weapons to any regime that would have threatened the strategic balance to such an extent or that would have threatened the interests of our “allies” Germany and France. This is outrageous. Please explain to me now how this is anything else but an attempt to make money for a few influential corporations in both nations. Large corporate interests control Germany and France and have bent their foreign policies to make $$$$$ for a few greedy demented and crass individuals. The people of Germany and France should rise up and vote out these crony nepotists once and for all and give their nations back their democratic forms of government.

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Its worse even than that. France is leading a bumbling Germany along in France’s desire to do anything to counter the US’s current status as sole superpower. Apparently, France feels that it is better to have two superpowers at odds with each other than it is to have one superpower. France used the cold war between the US and USSR to prop its pathetic self up as a nation in the middle that mattered. Germany is apparently too stupid to see that France is hoping to play the same game, this time with the US and China in a cold war. As if the last cold war was not bad enough. France does the same thing with the Arabs… attempting to make itself matter as a middle man between the US and Arab states.

I think the actions of France and Germany in this regard are absolutely disgusting.

Fuck both France and Germany for these efforts.

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The Magnificent Tigerman:

I could not agree more. I am shocked that two nations that care so much about international law and about consensus would even dream of going against the vital interests of so many nations and to flout internationally accepted standards of behavior to risk an arms race in East Asia. After all, the more China arms, the more Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, the Phillipines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam plus India will want to gear up. That will cause nations like Pakistan to seek more weapons to counterbalance India and this will lead to a terrible cycle of arms expenditures and rocky relations. Just think of what this will do to Taiwan for example given that China is not being threatened but has strong intentions of taking over Taiwan and the South China Sea. Think of Japan’s sealanes being threatened.

Clearly this is all about a few defense corporations bribing government officials or controlling them who want to inflate their bottom lines and earn $$$$$$ and damn any innocent civilians who get caught up in any subsequent conflagrations. One would have thought that the Germans and French would have learned about the destabilizing influences of such sales when they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar in Iraq and then Iran. Really, such terrible world citizens. What is the United Nations going to do about this? We need a resolution condemning the actions of these two unilateral cowboys for endangering the world with their greedy machinations. Evil. Absolutely evil.

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Is there anyway that we can stop these acts? I mean there must be a number of EU citizens on this forum that could write letters and protest so that Germany and France do not get their barbaric way. Anyone have any ideas?

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Yeah. Right. The chance of the EU listening to anything the supposed democratic population says is about the same chance as my fridge sprouting legs and driving to my school to take my English class tomorrow morning.

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So are you saying the EU is not a democratic form of government Dangermouse? Does John Ashcroft know about this? He may be willing to come over and learn some lessons so that he can better help oppress the Aliens of our nation.

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The USA is also one of the largest exporters of weapons in the world.

How about this perhaps USA should also lift their ban on selling arms to the PRC. Then they could take France, Germany, and USSR market share in China.

If those other countries complain, we should sell them weapons as well. Then the USA could be the coveted position as being the middleman. A honest broker of peace through arms dealing.

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No the US IS THE LARGEST arms exporter in the world.

Just what is the US selling to China these days hmmm?

Who is the US selling to, do you know?

Most weapons are going to moderate regimes like Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, et al. They are not going where the Germans and French are selling them to previously Iraq and Iran and now they hope to China. Has any US sale of weapons threatened the security of its allies France and Germany? Have any sales by France and Germany threatened the security interests of the US? Gosh. I do believe that the fact that Germany and France armed Saddam was probably a security threat to the US given that we were the ones who took over the security guarantees of the Gulf states after the British left in 1972.

So is there a difference between being the world’s largest arms seller when you sell to Turkey and Greece as opposed to being No. 3 or No. 5 if you are selling to Iraq, Iran and China? What do you think?

Who is in charge of guaranteeing the security of East Asia?

Finally, not only is the US opposed to these sales but so is almost every other nation in the region and in Europe. In fact, most European citizens would be against it and yet the governments of Germany and France in unilateral gun-toting cowboy fashion are ramrodding these antidemocratic measures through the EU and down the throats of their own citizens.

This will lead to greater arms purchases by Japan, South Korea and certainly Taiwan as well as Southeast Asia and India which will in turn lead Pakistan to seek more arms to counter a perceived threat from India. So once again we see international laws being respected by these two great nations. We see the concern which they show for “peaceful negotiation and dialogue” and what will the end results be of a greater armed China? Does China need any more weapons for its defense? or are these to build up its offensive capabilities? And if it does so, where will those weapons be used? I know, how about against Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

Anyone else see a difference here between US arms sales to Egypt or Saudi Arabia or even South Korea and Taiwan and proposed German and French proposed sales to China? Anyone?

The only sales of US weapons that I currently disagree with is the military support that we are offering Colombia. But then what are the alternatives? Perhaps, we need to take a serious look at our war on drugs and such but until then, anyone have any alternatives besides fighting the narcoterrorists?

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There is only so far left you can travel before you end up being right. With most of the Eurocrats in the system unelected, how can the EU be a true democracy?

PS: Can we have your old avatar back, I was developing a liking for it. Your new one is utter crap and mentions the word “France” several times.

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Sorry the powers be decided that my avatar was too wide (fits with reality in my case) and alien my nemesis has always supplied me with avatars. It was either this one or some man squirting coke out of his ass while saying something in French, the KKK or various John Ashcroft is evil avatars. I chose this one to reflect the new mellower more in touch with reality Frederick P. Smith v.

Besides I have always loved the French, eating French food (check out my waistline) and drinking all things French. They cannot help it if they have an asshole for a prime minister and a limp wristed slack-dicked butt munch for a former foreign minister. We must forgive, be merciful, overlook certain little things about notre amis n’est ce pas?

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Now that the EU government is heavily slanted toward sensibility, I wonder if these corrupt dictatorial regimes in France and Germany will be able to coopt the levers of power to continue selling their destructive weaponry to nations such as China. Perhaps, Germany should consider paying the Namibians for the slaughter in the early 1900s and the Iranians who were gassed with its chemical equipment and agents before it embarks on another marketing tour? What do you think?