Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-25-Speech-3-193"
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"en.20001025.7.3-193"2
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"Mr President, I too would like to add my words of congratulations to John Cushnahan on this report. I envy him the opportunity of having been able to draw it up
If I take issue with anything in this report, it is purely on a matter of balance and perspective. It is a question of whether one regards the glass as being half full, or as being half empty. Mr Cushnahan rightly points to the question of the three legal cases which have caused concern. He rightly points to the lack of progress on the introduction of universal suffrage for the elections of the Chief Executive, to discrimination against companies with trading links with Taiwan and to the decline in confidence of the political system. These are all indeed serious challenges and if we must be grateful that things have gone as well as they have, we must nonetheless be concerned that greater progress has not been made.
If we believe, as I do, that the biggest challenge of the 21st century is the democratisation of China, then of course Hong Kong is a fascinating experiment. I should be interested if the Commissioner would report to us something of the summit that Mr Prodi had with the Chinese last weekend and whether Hong Kong came up in those discussions.
Democracy and the rule of law will not be achieved and sustained unless the West is determined to make its voice heard. I believe that the record of the European Union falls far behind that of the United States of America in this area. I am aware that our Member States have concerns about standing up against the Chinese on issues of human rights because they fear trade sanctions in retaliation. But if there is one area where western Europe could stand four-square behind the European banner, it is surely in this area. We must have a record on human rights which is as good as that of the United States.
The ASEM summit last week managed to agree a statement which included as a goal of Asia-Europe cooperation the promotion of human rights. That is progress but we must look to the Commission for much more active involvement in this area; the fruits of such an approach will be enjoyed nowhere more than in Hong Kong."@en1
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