Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-08-Speech-4-144"
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"en.20050908.19.4-144"2
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".
Mr President, present-day China is still being ruled by a party that is Communist in name but has not – and this is certainly true of its leadership – been Communist for many years. These days, nothing matters except the pursuit of economic growth and export benefits on the world market, achieved by low wages, poor working conditions and the banning of independent trade unions, all of which is highly reminiscent of the dictatorial model which South Korea used in the past in order to become an industrialised nation. Whether the large majority of the people will gain any benefits from this will not be evident until a few decades down the line. Meanwhile, a society has been created with large discrepancies between the people in terms of power and income and with major disregard for nature, landscape and the environment. It is a far cry from the protection of man and the environment that we Socialists hold dear.
Although the Chinese leaders are no longer Communists, they have unfortunately retained the worst features of the Communist state tradition. They do not tolerate independent organisations and other centres of power alongside them. People can adhere to a faith, but are not allowed to organise themselves to any serious degree. The leadership fears that independent churches could become a source of opposition, and so, in line with a combination of atheist tradition and power politics, it is the government that decides which faiths shall be permitted and under what circumstances.
It is a matter of general knowledge that it is not the official Catholic Church that is allowed, but a nationally controlled variant. Less well known is the fact that the Jewish faith – which, before the revolution of 1949, had a large following, particularly in the large cities along the East coast – is completely banned. We should not give this China the opportunity to threaten neighbouring countries or clamp down on domestic opposition. It should therefore go without saying that the arms embargo should be enforced.
Under no circumstances should EU Member States be allowed to sell arms to China. Any attempt to lift the arms embargo would be reprehensible. It would not be in anybody’s interest to launch a new costly arms race and incite new threats. That is exactly why Europe, too, should press for disarmament."@en1
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