China and France signed an agreement THursday for China to buy 30 Airbus planes, in a deal timed to coincide with the visit of French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin. Raffarin and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao watched the signing of 20 agreements, including the Airbus deal to supply planes to three major Chinese airlines. The two sides also agreed to more cooperation in aviation, satellites, nuclear energy, agriculture and railways, Wen and Raffarin said at a joint press conference following their talks in Beijing on Thursday. Raffarin re-affirmed France's support for lifting a European Union embargo on sales on high-technology arms to China, saying he "could not understand" why it was not already lifted. Some E.U. member states still have reservations about lifting the embargo, which was imposed after China's military crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in 1989. The United States strongly opposes lifting the embargo, saying it could allow China to acquire sophisticated weapons that would change the military balance across the Taiwan Strait. --more Raffarin also backed China's controversial "anti-scession law", which was passed last month to formalize its policy on unification with Taiwan, inlcuding its broad conditions for using military force. "The anti-secession law is completely compatible with the position of France," Raffarin said. Raffarin said France was not concerned by China's rapidly developing share of the world economy or its growing demand for oil and other energy resources. "Whether talking about energy needs, raw material needs, official trade exchanges ... or currency policy, we feel China is acting responsibly in the world economy," he said. Wen said the E.U. arms embargo was an act of "political discrimination" and a "relic of the Cold War". He said China had improved its human rights record and was "actively preparing" to ratify the U.N. covenant on civil and political rights. The Airbus deal includes five A380 superjumbos for China Southern, 20 A320s for China Eastern, and two A319s and three A320s for Shenzhen Airlines. --SP 1409 Local Time 1109 GMT
