Good News For Airbus, Bad News For Democracy in China? UPDATE

There's always more to the story, isn't there just?

The Times of India is reporting that the Airbus deal was signed so that China could gain access to advanced French weaponry, and not out of any bonhomie on the part of either party. The Times says China is once again using cash to buy goodwill.

It seems that president Chirac urged the European Union to lift the arms embargo it imposed on China after the Tienamen Square riots of 1989, on the same day that China signed the deal to buy 170 Airbus aircraft. France, it seems, wants the EU to grant market economy status to China, a move India is opposed to because much of what China manufactures is subsidized one way or another.

Well. We now know what the price the French put on the people who died and the rights that were trampled in 1989. Upgrading the Chinese military's capability with French imports can't be good for India's peace of mind.