Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-10-Speech-3-169"
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"en.20020410.5.3-169"2
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"Mr President, I wish to begin by offering my congratulations to the rapporteur, Mr Graça Moura, for a very balanced report. He has raised a number of issues which merit further consideration.
I agree with his observation that while the human rights dialogue could indeed be useful, unfortunately up to now it has not produced tangible results. Human rights continue to be abused, political activity is suppressed and, according to Amnesty International, there were more State executions in China last year than in all other countries combined.
On the issue of Taiwan, I also condemn President Jiang Zemin's threats to use military force. Only peaceful negotiations carried out in an atmosphere of mutual respect will bring about progress. Furthermore, the cowardice of EU Member States in refusing a visa to President Chen Shui-bian to visit Europe is self-serving and counterproductive.
Turning to other matters, the EU needs to review how the 1989 arms embargo is being implemented, especially since Member States are being allowed to interpret the rules themselves. In Ireland, for example, military goods can be exported to China, as long as they are not sold directly to the military. There are no end-user checks in place to ensure that they do not end up in the hands of the military or security services for purposes of which the EU would strongly disapprove. The UK continues to have a flourishing trade in British-made military goods.
As the rapporteur for Hong Kong, there are a number of issues about which I have concerns but I feel it is inappropriate to raise those concerns now. I hope that in the very near future – possibly in the autumn – the Committee on Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy will take an initiative and we will have a much more comprehensive report to deal with the many concerns which this House and indeed I myself, as rapporteur, have relating to Hong Kong."@en1
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