Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-07-10-Speech-2-457"
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"en.20070710.60.2-457"2
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"Mr President, Commissioner, we would agree that precisely because of the scale of EU's trade deficit with China, the European Union needs to be given much better market access opportunities, that the distortions created by Chinese State aids have to be reduced, and the Chinese Government needs to enforce WTO-standard intellectual property rights in the provinces as well.
We also need to work together to convince China that we are not just presenting a list of demands, but rather that it is in China's interest to allow fair market access. We have to make China understand that if they want to lick their environment into shape, if they want to create an efficient energy supply – after all, China has plenty of money, there is no problem on that front – then we need to be given access to their public procurement market. Then we will be able to sell our products in China in a sensible trade in goods, and China will be able to purchase modern coal-fired power stations and sewage plants and suchlike and make use of our technologies.
China does not need handouts, it has plenty of capital: it has the largest foreign currency reserves in the world. China is currently setting up a fund to invest its money worldwide. Our message to the Chinese Government should be: invest your money in your own country! Do something for environmental protection and energy security, improve safety in the coalmines. If we are successful, we will also be able to improve trade relations in the long term.
Of course, as you indicated, these agreements also contain a human rights clause because we have been discussing human rights with China for years; we must stand firm on that point. As a previous speaker said, no one expects China to respect all human rights overnight, but we do need to see significant progress. The People's Republic of China signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights several years ago, but has not ratified it and does not apply it. So we need to turn around and say: you chose to sign it, you said you wanted to uphold human rights, now do it!"@en1
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