France favors lifting EU arms ban against China: Chirac

French President Jacques Chirac said Friday in Hanoi that France is in favor of lifting the European Union (EU) weapon embargo on China, saying the ban is totally senseless.

Chirac made the remarks at a press briefing after attending the first-day sessions of the fifth Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit,the largest gathering of Asian and European leaders after 13 new members joined ASEM on Thursday.

The embargo has been imposed on China for 15 years, but the situation now is quite different from 15 years ago, said Chirac.

China has completely complied with rules regarding weapons whether the embargo is imposed or not, so France totally favors the lifting, said Chirac, adding that the embargo shows lack of trust in China, and the ban is pointless.

He said that most of EU countries agreed that the weapon embargo should be lifted. And he expressed the hope to reach a satisfactory agreement among the EU members to solve the problem.

He said he will leave for China Friday evening. France and China have long-lasting friendship and cooperation, and he will exchange views on a wide range of issues with Chinese leaders during his visit.