Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-01-21-Speech-4-067"
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"en.20100121.5.4-067"2
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"Mr President, China is a large country with a rich history and with huge development potential. The hosting of the Olympic Games in Beijing last year did not have the results that some had expected.
The relationship that the European Union is able to maintain with China is of particular importance. It is our duty as MEPs to say loudly and clearly what we consider important and what is unacceptable.
The fact is, the human rights situation in China is unacceptable. The case of Mr Liu Xiaobo, found guilty of demanding democratic reforms in his country, along with more than 10 000 of his fellow citizens, exemplifies this. Dare I say that, in my opinion, making such mobilisation possible in that country is an achievement rather than a crime?
We must demand the release of Mr Xiaobo, and of all the men and women who, like him, are being harassed and imprisoned for having committed just one crime, that of defending human rights, and more specifically, one of the most fundamental of those rights, namely freedom of expression.
As one of my fellow Members said, just recently a British citizen was actually executed, despite the fact that he was mentally ill. This is the first time in more than 50 years that a European has been executed in China. Indeed, freedom of expression is being flouted a little more each day, as recently revealed to us by Google, which nonetheless has a reputation for being the operator that provides if not the best protection, then at least the least worst protection for Internet users.
It is common knowledge that, to establish themselves in China, operators must comply with the Chinese authorities’ request to install software filters, which even Google has ended up agreeing to do. We cannot accept a government engaging in Internet piracy and denying Internet users their freedom of expression.
The European institutions must join forces and take action on this matter. Chinese Internet users must be able to access uncensored information. The European Union has a duty to support Internet businesses that refuse to help the Chinese authorities to censor the Internet or, worse still, to arrest human rights defenders, democrats, or even journalists, as was the case with Mr Xiaobo in April 2005.
Finally, ladies and gentlemen, I cannot end my speech without asking you to remember the deaths in Tiananmen Square; many hundreds of young Chinese people met their deaths on the night of 3 June 1989. It was 20 years ago now, a sad anniversary which we would be honoured to commemorate by paying tribute to those young victims. Not all the events of 1989 have deserved the same attention, however."@en1
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