Parliamentary questions
WRITTEN QUESTION P-0422/97
by Olivier Dupuis (ARE) to the Council
(6 February 1997)

Subject: EU action on China with regard to the UN Commission on Human Rights

With 6 more weeks to go until the annual meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, it seems that the EU has still not decided on action to be taken on the very serious human rights situation in China.

So far the EU Human Rights Working Group has failed to reach a conclusion on what the EU should do with respect to a China resolution. At the same time, the human rights situation in China is deteriorating even further, while the so-called dialogue on human rights between the EU and China is deadlocked. For these reasons, a UN resolution condemning the human rights situation in China is needed more than ever.

It seems that the Presidency of the Union is committed to such a resolution and is supported by most other Member States on this issue. However, from well-informed sources as well as from the press, it appears that 2 Member States are strongly opposed and are obstructing the consultation process.

Can the Council confirm this information? If this is the case, what action is the Presidency of the Union planning to take to overcome the deadlock?

P-0422/97EN
Answer
(27 May 1997)

The Honourable Member of Parliament is correct in his assumption that the Union has not yet taken a decision on what action it will take on the human rights situation in China at the forthcoming 53rd session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

The Troika at ministerial level has met with a Chinese delegation in Singapore on 14 February 1997. This allowed the European Union to reiterate the great importance it attaches to a dialogue on human rights with China. Without engaging in any form of negotiations on the Union's principles concerning the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, it also provided the Union with an opportunity to impress upon the Chinese side its expectations for tangible improvement in the human rights situation in China.

Clear examples of such improvements would be the release of political prisoners in need of medical treatment, the signature and ratification of the two United Nationas human rights covenants and allowing the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to visit prisons in China.

The outcome of the Troika meeting with China in Singapore, and measures taken by China to improve its human rights situation will be taken into consideration by the Union when deciding upon the course it will take at the Commission on Human Rights.