EU mulls lifting arms ban on China

No immediate decision is expected, but the bloc could agree to end the ban as early as March, said one source ahead of the talks. The discussions were initiated by France, which is hosting Chinese President Hu Jintao this week.

European officials say they are aware that the United States is against lifting the ban. Ministers will bear this in mind, but insist the bloc will take a decision based on a substantive argument among themselves.

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"We are conscious of the US position, and we want to avoid serious high profile differences with the US. But it's not the primary factor," said a senior diplomat with the Irish EU presidency.

France and Germany -- infamously dubbed "Old Europe" during the Iraq crisis -- are backed by "many" other EU states in believing that "it is high time for this anachronistic, obsolete embargo to be lifted," said one envoy from a country pushing for the ban to be ended.

"Some member states see it as anachronistic," confirmed the Irish diplomat, referring to the ban imposed in 1989 after China sent in tanks to break weeks-long pro-democracy protests, killing hundreds.

"Others put the accent on human rights," she added. Diplomats say the EU states most strongly opposed to lifting the embargo are Denmark and Sweden, with the Netherlands also reluctant.

On Monday ministers are likely to have only initial talks, before asking diplomats to discuss the issue further and then returning to the matter themselves at their regular monthly meetings.

Britain, Washington's staunchest ally during the Iraq war, appears at least open to lifting the ban. "Our position is that we do accept the need for a review of the arms embargo. We think there probably is an issue about modernizing it," said a British source.

British Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell said in Beijing last month that the EU has other controls in place to ensure that China could not use newly bought European weapons to attack Taiwan or for domestic crackdowns.