Solana, who has called in the past for an early lifting of the embargo, said China was now led by different politicians. "Our aim is fully normalize relations with China and to lift the last sanctions put in force after the Tiananmen incident in 1989," he said, stressing the decision would be a political, rather than a military one. "The planned lifting does not mean at all that we want to supply China with more arms," Solana said. The EU foreign policy chief acknowledged there was widespread criticism within Europe. "The critics should know that we want to control the export of weapons more rigorously in future and that we will also talk with China about human rights and other concerns," he said. "I think that this decision is linked to all other policies we have towards China." Solana also commented that the European Union was continuing discussions with the U.S. government and Congress in an effort to win them over. Congress has warned it could retaliate against European defense firms by restricting technology sharing. "I don't like this talk about sanctions. Sanctions are a specific measure, which one should not threaten on a daily basis," Solana said. --SPA 1244 Local Time 0944 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/254781