BRUSSELS - The European Union plans to turn up the heat on China over human
rights at summit this week, official said Tuesday, as Amnesty International
released a damning new report on the country's record.
EU leaders Chris Patten, the EU's external affairs commissioner and former Hong
Kong governor, will not shy away from the issue at the one-day EU-China summit
in Beijing on Thursday, they said.
"The situation remains unsatisfactory in terms of international
standards," said an EU official, adding talks on the subject were not
enough. "Dialogue (needs to) be increasingly followed by concrete progress
on the ground."
Patten will be on the Brussels delegation -- led by Commission president Romano
Prodi -- for talks on everything from boosting trade to seeking to resolve the
North Korean nuclear crisis. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
currently holds the EU presidency, will head the EU team.
Patten's spokeswoman Emma Udwin noted that the EU "frequently" raises
its human rights concerns with "our Chinese friends."
"The reinforcement of this element of our relationship is on the
agenda" at the summit, she said, adding: "We do think that the human
rights dialogue brings results .. It has to be made more operational."
The comments came after Amnesty released a 20-page report that said hundreds of
thousands of people continue to be detained across China, executions are carried
out after unfair trials and torture and ill-treatment are widespread.
Amnesty said it would monitor the Beijing meeting closely for signs of a change
of attitude by the EU.
"Until now, the European Union has been held hostage to China's insistence
on mutual respect and non-confrontation on human rights issues," said
Amnesty's Brussels office boss Dick Oosting.
"The EU should not just upgrade its human rights dialogue with China but
start exerting political pressure on China to achieve concrete improvements, in
particular, on the issues raised in this latest Amnesty report," he added.
The 15-country EU -- set to expand to 25 members next year -- aims to ink at
least two key accords in Beijing: one to boost cooperation on satellite
navigation and tourism, and another to boost industrial links.
The bloc will underline the increasingly important role China is playing in
international diplomacy -- in particular at the moment in the North Korean
nuclear crisis.
"We (will) encourage China to pursue its efforts for a resolution of that
problem," said an official, adding: "We recognize their increasing
role in the region and in the world."
On economic affairs the EU will press Beijing to fulfil commitments made when it
joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Its failure to do so is fueling
some concern among foreign businesses operating in the country.
[...]
Patten's spokeswoman declined to say whether the human rights issue would be
raised personally with the Chinese head of state. "It is there at every
level of our discussions with the Chinese," she said.
http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/cl/Qeu-china-amnesty-rights.RD4-_DOS.html
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