Free Republic

Japanese government officials said Tokyo has obtained information from some Japanese traders that shipments have been stopped. China's Trade Ministry denied Thursday that Beijing is embargoing export of rare earths to Japan... a territorial dispute has strained relations between the two countries. With offices closed in both Japan and China for public holidays, it was difficult...

STOCKHOLM, Sweden - Arms embargoes imposed by the United Nations since 1990 have been effective in only about a fourth of the cases, according to a new study. The report, compiled by The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute and the Uppsala University Special Program on the Implementation of Targeted Sanctions, said U.N. arms embargoes have had limited impact on both the compliance of targeted countries and the arms that flow to them. The study looked at 27 U.N. arms embargoes imposed between 1990 and 2006, including the cases of Iraq, Iran and Taliban-controlled Afghanistan as well as African countries such...

WASHINGTON, March 1 - Senior members of Congress from both parties emerged from a meeting with President Bush on Tuesday warning Europe that if it lifts its ban on arms sales to China, the United States may retaliate with severe restrictions on technology sales to European companies. The warning came after Mr. Bush, on his trip to Europe last week, twice cautioned the Europeans not to lift the restrictions, in place for 15 years. His insistence was based, at least in part, on a new American intelligence assessment that Beijing is rapidly becoming better equipped to carry out a sophisticated...