Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-12-12-Speech-3-236"
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"en.20071212.27.3-236"2
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"Madam President, ladies and gentlemen, I believe we are faced time and again with the question of the right way to proceed in our political dealings with China. Mr Sterckx has just spoken again of strategic partnership, and rightly so. I find that an absolutely desirable aim. But we must be realistic, and we are clearly not yet on that level at the present time, because we do not have a foundation of shared values – human rights, fair treatment of minorities, rejection of the death penalty – on which a genuine strategic partnership could be built.
I believe it was absolutely right – and I say this advisedly as a Green German MEP – for Angela Merkel to meet the Dalai Lama, because it shows that we mean what we say about respect for human rights.
On the other hand, there is something I do not find at all right. President Sarkozy, when he recently spoke here, told us that human rights must be the hallmark of the European Union, only to travel to China three weeks later and not make an issue of human rights there. These are European double standards, and they are something we must not tolerate.
I fervently believe that our dialogue with China, which I support and which we must have the political will to pursue, cannot be all fawning sweet talk but must also include confrontation. If we combine these and negotiate with China in a self-assured manner, we must also express unveiled criticism. In the context of the Olympic Games too, the Chinese have to achieve the goals they set for themselves, and we Europeans should be bold and frank and confront the Chinese with our criticism when the need arises."@en1
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