Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-11-16-Speech-2-025"
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"en.20041116.7.2-025"2
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"Mr President, the supply of weapons from EU Member States to third countries needs to comply with a common, clear, and binding framework that must be capable of being tested. That is of course a requirement if we want to bring about a truly responsible European policy. It is quite simply a pity, as Mr Nicolaï said, that a number of countries are still resolutely standing in the way of a binding framework of this kind. Three important test criteria are a conventional human rights policy and of course the resultant practice in a given country, regional tensions in a specific field and also the ratio between what a country spends, on the one hand, on combating poverty, and, on the other, on its defence budget. It is against these yardsticks that the attempt by China – and now also by a number of countries within Europe – to have the arms embargo lifted must be measured. The human rights situation is still a matter of concern to the EU, and rightly so. China may well have signed up to essential treaties, but what it does in practice is another matter. The treatment of dissidents, of ethnic and religious minorities, and the large-scale imposition of the death penalty are, to put it simply, very worrying. Tight restrictions on freedom of expression and on workers’ rights, as well as on the right to form trade unions and to go on strike are also still giving cause for serious concern.
The second point about regional development is also self-evident. Tensions are apparent at the level of global politics.
Let me conclude with the economic aspect. China is of course undergoing enormous social changes and is, in economic terms, extremely dynamic; it is also characterised by hardworking capitalism on a vast scale, and by massive economic growth. In this, a lot of people have lost out, though; there is inequality in the shape of some 200 million people in search of work, living below the poverty level, accompanied by all the social unrest that results from that. In such a situation, economic change needs to go hand in hand with fundamental political reforms and social democracy, so I wholeheartedly endorse the position my group has taken in this House, that being that the arms embargo must not be lifted now, while also stressing the need for dialogue with China, which is a towering actor in both economic and political terms. We in Europe must try to foster the process of democratisation and offer to help resolve social problems. We must help China to play its part as a global actor effectively and fairly, for that is in the interests of the international legal system."@en1
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