Europe Condemns Beijing Over Rights
(South China Morning Post | February 12, 1994)
The European Parliament has issued a ringing condemnation of China's human rights abuses, urging guarantees for the liberties of Hong Kong and calling on the European Union (EU) not to improve links with Beijing until there is an improvement.
It will be forwarded to Beijing and the governments of European member states over the next few days and could be used to block future trade agreements between the EU and China.
The 33-item resolution, passed without opposition, condemns labour camps, and calls for the release of political prisoners, the ending of the sale in Europe of goods produced by forced labour and the establishment of a multi-party state.
It also regrets visits by senior Western politicians such as Chancellor Dr Helmut Kohl and Prime Minister John Major.
Although the motion is mainly advisory and has no legislative weight, it could turn into a considerable embarrassment to EU governments, including Britain, anxious to step up political and trade links. "It is a reminder to ministers of the concern of Europe's elected politicians about human rights issues and they should not forget that," said a parliament spokesman in Strasbourg yesterday.
"It is a warning to them that they should not negotiate trade agreements without thinking of these issues."
He warned that the Parliament had blocked trade agreements with countries including Morocco and Syria in the past because of concern over human rights and had the power to do so with China.
Although the Parliament has a say on trade deals the real power within the EU is still the European Council - its executive wing comprised of government ministers.
But politicians and groups around the world opposed to Chinese human rights abuses will be able to turn to the motion as the first pan-European democratic view on how links with China should be viewed.
Foreign policy within the EU remains the province of the Council and of national governments although under the Maastricht Treaty the Parliament's influence is growing.
The resolution says economic reforms should be accompanied by "the gradual introduction of internationally recognised social standards" and reminds China that it is a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
It "reaffirms its condemnation of the use of the death penalty and torture" and "calls on the Chinese Government to release all persons whose only crime is practising their religion".
It goes on to express "the hope that the Chinese legal system can become genuinely independent of the political authorities and able to guarantee citizens the right to legal counsel and to a fair trial".
It condemns the "physical and moral pressure exerted on women to have abortions and the widespread practice of infanticide, especially of baby girls".
The resolution expresses concern about conditions in Chinese prisons where it claims prisoners suffer through isolation and inadequate medical care. Most of the resolution is extremely condemnatory in nature.
It goes on to express regret about the way the lack of human rights and democracy in China makes it necessary to maintain restrictions on the number of official visits.
It says that any "further expansion of co-operation" between China and the EU should be accompanied by the ending of the system of "lao gai" or labour camps and the freeing of political prisoners along with respect for "the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the people of Tibet".
"This should be accompanied by the opening of negotiations with the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile."
But it is not all negative. While condemning some official visits, it supports professional and academic exchanges and approves technical and financial schemes.
It also welcomes the normalisation of relations between China and Vietnam, Russia, India and other countries in the region.
It calls on China to put pressure on North Korea over its nuclear programme yet condemns arms sales and nuclear testing.
The motion is the result of the first report to be drawn up on EU-Chinese relations since the Tiananmen Square massacre and is accompanied by a lengthy appraisal of events within the country, its economy and the party hierarchy.
It has not concentrated on Hong Kong to any extent although it stresses that links with China must include "securing agreement that the human rights of the people of Hong Kong and Macau are respected after these territories return to Chinese sovereignty".
The Parliament says it "hopes that the planned reunification with Hong Kong and Macau in line with the principle 'one country, two systems' will be accompanied by every possible democratic guarantee".
The resolution was drawn up by the Parliament's Committee on Foreign Affairs and Security under the guidance of an Italian Green MEP Maria Aglietta.
She said she was particularly concerned about human rights in China despite opposition from the Chinese Government to European involvement. But when the resolution was debated one of Britain's Commissioners, Bruce Millan, said the EU should not interfere in China's domestic affairs.
Instead he said the European Commission favoured a "frank and ongoing dialogue" on human rights with China.
His comments showed the difference in view between the Parliament and the Commission itself. The EU was ready to help the economic reforms under way and was interested in stepping up trade and co-operation links, he said.
Legislative Councillor Christine Loh Kung-wai, who is in Britain lobbying on human rights in post-1997 Hong Kong, welcomed the motion.
It was important that the Parliament made a clear expression on human rights, she said.
But she doubted whether the resolution would mean very much in the long term unless EU foreign policy developed a human rights content.
Friends of Tibet (INDIA),
PO Box 16674, Bombay 400050
www.friendsoftibet.org