Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-09-06-Speech-3-352"
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"en.20060906.23.3-352"2
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"Mr President, in the first draft of the EU-China report, the name Tibet does not even appear. I am very grateful to the Committee on Foreign Affairs for having supported the amendments proposed by myself and my colleagues in the Tibet intergroup.
The report describes the foundations and the future orientation of our relations with China and it has an important signalling effect. Human rights are not a minor issue, but the starting point of our political activity. They are by no means the expression of so-called typical Western thinking. This is not about empty words which sound pleasant and are not binding; it is about practical respect for fundamental rights.
In paragraph 37, Mr Belder has found a decent compromise and included my amendments. We condemn the severe human rights violations in Tibet, the oppression of religious freedom, arbitrary arrests or torture. We repudiate the so-called ‘patriotic education campaign’, which involves monks and nuns being forced to make statements denouncing the Dalai Lama as a ‘dangerous separatist’ and proclaiming Tibet to be a part of China.
We call upon China to grant unimpeded access to the abducted Panchen Lama, the second highest spiritual authority after the Dalai Lama. We expressly support the negotiations between the Chinese authorities and the representatives of His Holiness, also regarding genuine autonomy for Tibet. In paragraph 82 we demand the abolition of the death penalty and increased protection for minorities.
I hope that this House will approve both of these amendments tomorrow. They are so important for a people that has been robbed of its identity by stealth. I recall the Dalai Lama’s visit to Brussels on the 31 May. He met MEPs as well as several Commissioners and the President-in-Office of the Council, Wolfgang Schüssel. We hope that an increasing number of people in positions of authority in China succeed in freeing themselves from their ideological ballast."@en1
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