“We are working toward lifting the arms embargo. (But) we want to see the right environment,” EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero Waldner told journalists on the final day of her three-day visit to China.

“For instance, we want to see the ratification of the (United Nations) Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of (its) citizens.

“We would also like to see the release of the prisoners from Tiananmen Square and also the abolishment of (the extra-legal penal system of) education through labor.”

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Thursday criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for urging EU leaders not to lift an embargo on arms sales to China, accusing Japan of “obstruction” and “interference.”

“It is the business between China and the European Union,” ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told reporters.

“There is no connection with Japan,” Liu said when asked to comment on Abe’s recent talks with European leaders on the embargo.

China expressed “strong dissatisfaction” to Japan through diplomatic channels, he said, after Abe urged French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and other leaders not to lift the embargo.

“We hope Japan could do more that is conducive to bilateral ties instead of making unnecessary trouble,” Liu said.

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