Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2011-04-07-Speech-4-344-000"
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"en.20110407.22.4-344-000"2
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"Mr President, this is the first time that I have participated in a Thursday afternoon debate, so there are some lessons I think I can pick up for the Conference of Presidents with regard to making the plenary session more attractive.
I am pleased that this point has been put on the agenda, because the case of Mr Ai Weiwei is quite dramatic, as the latest information we have is that there is certainly no intention on the part of the Chinese authorities to release him. The best thing we can do is to approve the urgent resolution we have agreed together with all the groups so that we can increase pressure on the Chinese authorities.
I have to tell you that I have my doubts that this resolution will change anything in the attitude of the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese authorities. What we are, in fact, doing on human rights with the Chinese is a game. We are talking about human rights, they are saying they will open a dialogue and we think that things have changed. Nothing shall change. That is the reality. We have the Nobel prize-winner who could not attend the meeting in Oslo. We now have Mr Ai Weiwei, who is a well-known artist and was one of the last dissidents who had the possibility to say something.
The only thing we can say is in an urgent resolution in which we deplore what is happening. In any case, I had hoped that we could ask why we should continue to participate in fora that the Chinese Communist Party organises with our political parties. I deplore that there was not enough support from the other groups to come to an agreement on that. We could at least have agreed on a principle of not continuing to participate in fora with the Chinese Communist Party, if Mr Weiwei and other dissidents were not released. For that reason at least, I hoped for the support of all the groups here – with the other amendment the Greens tabled, even if the best part of it was eliminated. Yes, it is true, they tabled a fantastic amendment and then eliminated the best part! OK, it was not their fault, but apparently the fault of others.
I may be taking a minute more than I usually do, but for Mr Ai Weiwei, it will take ten years longer, apparently. If we can speak in favour of somebody who may be in gaol for years, one minute longer is not too much, Mr President!"@en1
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