Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2010-11-23-Speech-2-584"
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"en.20101123.41.2-584"2
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"Madam President, it is very good indeed that Parliament and the Commission have decided that the situation of Liu Xiaobo should be discussed at a plenary sitting of the European Parliament. It is a pity there are so few of us here for such a debate. After all, the international community, of which we are one of the most important members, should be united in such situations and should support the fight for respect for human rights together, because solidarity is the key word in this debate.
In 1989, when my country finally defeated the communist dictatorship, Liu Xiaobo was protesting in Tiananmen Square, demanding exactly the democratic freedoms which were shortly to be enjoyed by almost the whole of Europe. He has not given up his efforts – despite having spent years in prison, he signed an appeal for democratisation of the country, for which he was sentenced to a further 11 years’ imprisonment. Just like Liu, our leader, Lech Wałęsa, strove for a bloodless transition and for freedom. We enjoyed the support of democratic countries. Wałęsa, too, was not able to receive his Nobel Peace Prize in person, but even so, that prize was the hope of liberty to us Poles. That Nobel Prize became a catalyst of change.
Today is a good time to draw the attention of world opinion to people just such as Liu Xiaobo. We must not forget that apart from such leading figures as himself, there are many others who are not being spoken about, for example, the human rights activist, Mao Hengfeng, who is currently in a re-education/labour camp precisely for protesting against the imprisonment of Liu Xiaobo. The European Union should attach the highest importance to human rights in contacts with China. This should be a priority for meetings such as the European Union-China summit which was held on 6 October. I want to express my disappointment at the omission of this fundamental matter. We must show we are not blind to human rights, and an opportunity to do this will be the award ceremony for the Nobel Prize in Oslo, at which, I hope, the whole world and all ambassadors will be present."@en1
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