Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-08-Speech-4-148"
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"en.20050908.19.4-148"2
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".
Mr President, last week Tang Jaixuan, a former Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of China, said to the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights that every country should promote and protect human rights in its own way, and that there should be no outside interference in this respect. We simply cannot go along with this view. Respect for fundamental human rights, including freedom of religion, is not an internal Chinese concern. It is a concern for all those who are not egotists or opportunists.
We should bear in mind that freedom of religion is also possible in non-democratic countries. Czechs, Jews and people from the Netherlands emigrated to Poland in the 16th century not because our country was a democracy, but because all religions could be practised in complete freedom in Poland. We should also remember, however, that there were and still are political systems that only recognise religious leaders of different persuasions if they support the theory that all authority is God-given, even the cruellest.
China should respect not only freedom of religion, but also the independence of churches and religious associations. Secular authorities cannot be allowed to influence decisions on who might become a Catholic bishop, the 15th Dalai Lama or the 12th Panchen Lama. Tibetan monks cannot be compelled to attend ideological training. The 87-year-old Gongola Lama has stated that on training courses of that nature, instructors indoctrinate the monks on the nature of love for the common Chinese fatherland, and mould them into subservience to the law. They also teach the monks that the Dalai Lama is a danger. Certain monks are forced to sign a document stating that they no longer recognise the spiritual and political leadership of the Dalai Lama.
World history is full of accounts of repression for religious motives. It is worth remembering, however, that such repression proved ineffective, even under the cruellest of regimes. It will prove ineffective in China as well. It does not matter if a person has their work or property taken away, is imprisoned, expelled, crucified or gassed. Neither the Pope nor the Dalai Lama can call up any so-called divisions, because the source of religious strength is not to be found in believers or in the clergy, but in the very nature of religion itself. For most religions, death is not a tragic end but the start of a new life."@en1
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