Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-08-Speech-4-147"
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"en.20050908.19.4-147"2
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".
Mr President, sadly, it is becoming traditional for us to devote Thursday afternoons to debating actions perpetrated by the Chinese authorities against their own people and against all others they have subjugated. I would remind the House that we recently debated violations of human rights in Tibet. The term violations of human rights is somewhat of a euphemism, when the actions actually being referred to include murder, imprisonment, mass disappearances, and when people are prevented from practising their religion and there is no question of freedom of any sort. Let us call a spade a spade. This should be termed criminal activity, not violations of human rights.
We have been observing events in China for the last 60 years. Those of us who hail from former Communist states know full well how Communist authorities tend to behave, regardless of whether they are ideologically committed to Communism or not. That is immaterial. I speak from personal experience, and still have a strong memory of the early years of Communism in Poland. Quite simply, it is a case of a vicious Communist or post-Communist dictatorship.
Everyone is persecuted. Believers in Islam, Buddhism, Jews ... all are hunted down. As to those that are persecuted most cruelly ... well, perhaps not, because in Tibet Buddhists have been persecuted equally cruelly, but it should be said that Christians and especially Catholics are persecuted. In particular, those Catholics are targeted who adhere to a fundamental principle of the Catholic Church, namely unity with the wider church, personified in the Pope. Certain schisms have been encouraged, and a national church has come into being, though obviously this could never be recognised.
Things are getting worse, not better. As stated in our resolution, the number of arrests is increasing. So too is the number of cases of torture, unexplained disappearances, detentions through the criminal system, and the number of isolation camps. The very term ‘isolation camp’ should make our blood run cold. We Europeans are well aware of the horrors perpetrated under Nazi German and Communist Russian domination.
The European Union has had diplomatic relations with China for 30 years. There has been much talk of dialogue. I wonder about the nature of this dialogue and what it involves. It seems to mean this House adopting one resolution after another on Thursday afternoons when most Members are already on their way home.
At the same time, however, others who could have a significant influence on what might take place in China are presenting the case for a relaxation of the embargo. France and Germany are doing so particularly eloquently, maintaining that the embargo is ineffective. All this is happening in the context of a situation when we should be isolating China as much as possible. This is not just about economics. Above all, it is about moral principles. The European Union should make it abundantly clear that there can be no deals or dialogue of any kind with China. China deserves outright condemnation."@en1
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