The Bush Administration does not support France's call for an end to a European Union embargo on arms sales to China, in the latest sign of frosty ties between Paris and Washington, the AFP reported.

French President Jacques Chirac told his Chinese counterpart President Hu Jintao in Paris lately that the 15-year-long embargo, slapped on China after 1989 "makes no more sense today." Chirac said he hoped the ban on Beijing would be scrapped "in the coming months."

However, the US State Department said it viewed bans on arms sales to China by the United States and EU as "complimentary", and did not agree they should be lifted.

"For the United States, our statutes and regulations prohibit sales of defense items to China," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher. "We believe that others should maintain their current arms embargoes as well."

Boucher said: "We believe that the US and European prohibitions on arms sales are complementary, were imposed for the same reason, specifically serious human rights abuses, and that those reasons remain valid today."

There was no immediate comment on this by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Chirac said Tuesday French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin urged his EU counterparts in Brussels to lift the embargo, "which dates back more than 15 years and which no longer corresponds with the political reality of the contemporary world."

That meeting referred the issue to technical-level officials for review.

Several EU countries, including the Netherlands and Sweden, are reluctant to lift the ban, according an AFP report, quoting diplomats.

In a joint declaration with Chinese President Hu, Chirac affirmed that the island of Taiwan was "a part of China" and said France "opposes any unilateral step, including a referendum aimed at changing the status quo, which would increase tensions in the Straits and lead to the independence of Taiwan."

That language mirrored almost exactly US President George W. Bush's warning to Taiwan, given in the Oval Office during a visit to Washington last month by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Relations between France and the United States plunged to a modern low last year as the two traditional allies clashed on US-led war over Iraq. Last week, US Secretary of State Colin Powell admitted he was sometimes annoyed by France's world view. "The French are a proud people that have strong views about things, and from time to time, yes, they have annoyed me," Powell said. "And I'm sure from time to time I have annoyed them."

(China Daily January 29, 2004)