Summary: 12 December 2007, Strasbourg- Speech by Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, at the European Parliament; "The EU-China Human Rights Dialogue".
I welcome today's debate about the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue. As you will know, the human rights issue was raised and discussed at the recent Summit meeting in Beijing, and the joint statement explicitly refers to it (para 6).
I think it is fair to recognize that, although serious concerns remain and need to be addressed, China has made remarkable progress in the human rights field over the last year. This is particularly true in the field of social and economic rights, but also in other areas. There are moves afoot to reform the Re-education through Labour system. In this respect we welcome the new legislative initiative under consideration and hope that concrete reforms will be put in place soon. It is a
fundamental principle of human rights not to deprive an individual of his/her liberty without due justice and fair trial.
China is also working to implement the recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture. For example, the Ministry of Justice has recently directed courts not to rely on confessions on their own as sufficient evidence of guilt; as such confessions can sometimes be made as a result of torture by police or detention personnel. Similarly, China is initiating specific training measures targeted at these groups of public order personnel.
We are also particularly pleased to note the progress made with respect to the Supreme People's Court now exercising full review power over death penalty sentences issued by lower courts. We understand that the result is a reduction in the number of effective death sentences and executions. This is particularly gratifying for the EU, as it has long been a priority area of intervention.
Nevertheless, the Commission remains concerned by the situation of human rights in China in general and more specifically in the field of civil and political rights. We have in mind, in particular, freedom of expression, religion and association and the protection of the rights of the minorities in Tibet and the province of Xinjiang.
In this context, the repression of human rights defenders remains a key concern. Exercising the right to speak freely often leads to beatings, house arrest or terms of imprisonment. Access to the internet - the right to information - is closely monitored and restricted. Those who speak up in favour of greater autonomy for Tibet receive disproportionately long terms of imprisonment. The use of state secrecy legislation, as well as other loosely defined criminal provisions, facilitates the
prosecution of those who speak or publish freely.
The Commission urges the Chinese government to permit expressions of all forms of opinion. This is also an important factor for how the international public views China; particularly next year, in the run up to the Olympics, when all eyes will be on China. History shows that allowing freedom of expression leads in the long-term to a far more stable society.
All these issues are regularly addressed in the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue. Therefore we welcome the fact that the most recent dialogue, which was held in October in Beijing, allowed again a sincere and in depth exchange of views on all topics of our concern, with several of the discussions leading to follow up activity. It is important to recognize that this dialogue provides an important forum where both parties can openly speak about their genuine concerns, while contributing to a better
understanding of our differences, and our differences remain notable.
In this context, we regret the Chinese decision to withdraw from the human right's seminar in Berlin over the participation of two NGOs and that for similar reasons the seminar could not be held in Beijing recently. We consider that civil society has a very important role to play and the Seminar provides the appropriate forum for NGOs to make their valuable contributions. I trust we are able to find a mutually agreed solution so that this important exercise will continue its successful path in
the future, as underlined by the EU-China Summit.
Let me close by saying that there are two more important human rights issues which we regularly raise with the Chinese side as a matter of high priority: (i) the ratification by China of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and (ii) the release of those who were imprisoned at the time of Tien An Men or who later commemorated the 1989 events. Decisive action on both fronts would set a clear, positive signal and would be highly welcome.
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