Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2002-04-10-Speech-3-174"
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"en.20020410.5.3-174"2
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"Mr President, the rapporteur has, in my view, presented an outstanding report which, in all its comprehensiveness, indicates the importance of relations with China and the importance of a fruitful dialogue with China. In my view, the chairperson of the China delegation, Mrs Plooij-van Gorsel, has made some very valid points on this score. Nevertheless, we must be careful in our relations with China not to avoid the truth. The previous speaker has already alluded to this, as others have too. If the Chinese emperor is not wearing any clothes, then we should tell him. This would not be the first time. In common with some fellow MEPs, I am thinking, for example, of the situation with regard to Taiwan and the way in which we, and particularly our Foreign Affairs Ministers, deal with this situation as the European Union, for it is really hypocritical the way we go about this.
Take Taiwan's observer status in international organisations, say the World Health Organisation, which is now being discussed. This situation is ridiculous. As a democratic country, Taiwan should be able to take part in such organisations. Surely Taiwan is not the PLO from the sixties and the seventies. It is a country with which we have good relations, at a political level too, and which has experienced a tremendous, democratic development, yet it is being treated like a pariah. This is unacceptable.
Why is it that an elected leader such as Chen Shin-lian was unable to receive his freedom prize here? His wife was here, which was a feat in itself, but the man around whom everything revolved was absent. This, while the Chinese leader is currently on a glorious tour of the European Union. I welcome the fact that he is on this tour. This enables us to talk to him about what is happening, including the positive developments in China, but it remains a hypocritical situation. For let us be clear about this: China does not meet one single democratic criterion. Hong Kong is the most telling example where, recently, so-called ‘elections’, conducted in an entirely undemocratic way, were held for a new chief executive. If that is the shape of things to come in Taiwan, should it form part of China again, then it is not very inspiring.
I should, of course, also mention the human rights situation over there, and in particular mention should be made of capital punishment. Needless to say, it is absolutely impossible for us, as the European Parliament, to condone capital punishment but, unfortunately, China beats everyone hands down when it comes to executions. Between April and July 2001, more than 1 700 people were executed, which is more than the combined total in the rest of the world during the previous three years. The torture and abuse of suspects are also common practice.
In my view, it is useful to add these critical observations to this excellent report."@en1
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