The European Union is likely to delay plans to lift an arms embargo on China, European diplomats have said.
Any delay would come amid Beijing's passage of a law allowing military force against Taiwan and unexpectedly strong opposition from the United States against lifting the embargo.
Whether the delay could be a few weeks or longer is unclear, but the momentum toward lifting the embargo - which the EU had aimed to accomplish by June - has clearly slowed.
China's recent passage of its anti-secession law against any move by Taiwan to declare independence "has blown (EU plans to lift the embargo) out of the water," one diplomat told journalists.
The Europeans intended lifting the embargo as a sign of "confidence in a mature relationship (with China) but the law doesn't contribute to that," said the diplomat.
He described the EU move to lift the embargo as a "political message," just as the anti-secession law was intended by Beijing as a "political message" for Taiwan, which China claims as its own.
The EU said it still aims to meet its target of lifting the arms ban by the end of June but this was no longer certain.
Diplomats in Washington went further, saying the embargo almost certainly would not be lifted in June. But they doubted the EU would actually announce a decision.
The US Congress has threatened retaliation against the EU, including not approving licenses for technology transfers, if the embargo is lifted.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has increasingly toughened her line on the embargo, saying lifting it could alter the military balance in Asia, where the United States stations armed forces.
The United States has vowed to defend Taiwan should China attack it.