Thursday

28th Mar 2024

EU hostage to Chinese, says human rights group

The European Union was today attacked for making poor progress in its efforts to encourage China to stamp out human rights abuses, and has been branded a hostage to China.

The allegation, made by human rights campaigners, Amnesty International, comes two days before EU and Chinese leaders meet in Beijing and comes as an embarrassment as the EU tries to deepen ties with the emerging super-power.

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"Until now, the European Union has been held hostage to China's insistence on mutual respect and non-confrontation on human rights issues, locked in a formal 'human rights dialogue' that has produced no relief for the victims of human rights abuses", said Dick Oosting of Amnesty International.

China is a regular name on most lists of human rights offenders, and is reported to execute around 15,000 people each year.

Officials from the European Commission say that the human rights situation, including the use of the death penalty, will again be raised at the summit which begins on Thursday.

But despite the pressure from campaigners, officials are mindful of China’s long-held sensitivity to matters that may threaten internal stability.

Business

Campaigners are worried that economic reforms which are making the Chinese market increasingly more attractive for European business also threaten to push human rights dialogue onto the back burner.

"Legal reforms in the commercial sphere may be occurring in China but unfortunately, we do not see the same level of attention being paid to reform of criminal justice", said Mr Oosting.

Officials, however, say that the treatment of ethnic groups, notably Tibetans, will be raised despite being highly contentious.

Heading the Chinese delegation will be President Hu Jintao who previously worked as the Communist Party’s man in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.

A new China

The meeting will be the first attended by the President, who is coming to be viewed as something of a reformer.

With China’s engagement with the international community increasing rapidly, and its new role in the world taking shape, Thursday’s summit is likely to be important in defining long term relations.

Earlier this month the country published its first ever strategy paper on EU-China relations and appointed its first envoy to the Middle East.

China also continues to be instrumental in diffusing the stand-off between North Korea and the international community over that countries nuclear weapons capabilities, an item that will be at the top of the summit’s agenda.

The EU will be represented by a large delegation which includes the Commission President Romano Prodi, the Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy and the Italian Prime Minister and head of Council, Silvio Berlusconi.

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After losing its most effective point of leverage over China, new plans are on the table to bolster the EU's "valuable" political dialogue and 115 billion euro trade relationship with the world's most populous country.

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