September 21, 2002
SECTION: No. 2712
Highlight: The thorny question of human rights in China will be raised again when the European Union
holds its annual Summit with China in Copenhagen, on September 24. The EU is expected to express its
concerns that Beijing is justifying its abusive treatment of ethnic minorities on anti-terrorist
grounds. China will be represented by Prime Minister Zhu Rongji, while the EU delegation includes
Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh asmussen - representing the current Presidency - and European
Commission President Romano Prodi. The two sides will also discuss the fight against terrorism,
nuclear non-proliferation, and combating illegal migration, as well as the tensions in the Middle
East, Kashmir, Afghanistan, and the Korean peninsula.
BODY:
Danish Foreign Affairs Minister Per Stig Miller, European External Relations Commissioner Chris
Patten, and European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy, will also take part, while the Chinese team
includes Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan, and Foreign Trade Minister Shi Guangsheng. Mr Zhu will spend
a total of ten days in Europe, during which he will also pay official visits to Austria and France.
This could be one of his last major official appearances abroad, as he is expected to step down from
his post early next
year as the current crop of elderly leaders yields to a new generation. Indeed, the Summit comes at
a moment of transition in Chinese politics, with the hand-over of power to a new leadership
generation expected to follow the 16th Congress of the Communist Party in November.
China is particularly sensitive about human rights questions, and claims outsider comment on the
internal policies amounts to interference. But the two sides maintain a regular dialogue on the
issue, and Mr Patten makes a point of expressing the European concerns about particular cases. Over
the years, there has been little progress in questions like the use of the death penalty, torture
and the persecution of minorities. Supporters of the spiritual movement Falun Gong, outlawed by
Beijing in 1999, have arranged a number of demonstrations in Copenhagen during the Summit. EU
officials have also raised concerns that the world-wide efforts to fight terrorism have been seized
by Chinese officials over the past year as an excuse to clamp down on suspect groups or individuals.
Tens of thousands of Chinese citizens each year are sentenced administratively, without charge or
trial, for up to three years of 're-education through labor', which the United Nations has condemned
as inherently arbitrary. This is echoed by the lobby Human Rights Watch that has highlighted the
refurbished 'Strike Hard' anti-crime campaign that circumvents legal safeguards for criminal
suspects, as well as for alleged separatists and so-called religious extremists. The group also
complained of tighter restrictions on free expression and the Internet, and a continuing crackdown
on Falun Gong and other [spiritual groups].
[...]
Category: Falun Dafa in the Media
