Row flares after EU parliament endorses 'short-sighted' China resolution

Parliament has endorsed a resolution calling on China to end its "brutal repression” against Tibetan demonstrators.

At their Brussels plenary, MEPs passed a resolution condemning human rights abuses in Tibet by 524 votes with just 24 against.

However, the resolution was snubbed by Romanian Socialist deputies who branded it “hypocritical, short-sighted and irresponsible.”

Speaking at a news conference after the vote, Romanian MEP Adrian Severin said, “The problem with the resolution is that it does not speak about human rights abuses but, rather, about Tibet’s right to political autonomy.”

“This is a status which contradicts the current EU and UN stance, namely the support of both for the ‘One-China’ policy.

“Concepts such as political autonomy carry with them a significant degree of danger because of their vagueness,” added Severin, a former government minister and leader of the Romanian Socialist delegation.

Further criticism came from Italian Radicals MEP Marco Cappato who said,"We regret that the majority of parliament did not see fit to call upon on the council to invite the Dalai Lama to Brussels. We have now missed an opportunity to encourage the EU to agree a common policy on Tibet and on relations with China."

ALDE group leader Graham Watson said said China should be given an ultimatum that they have until 8 August to open "meaningful" dialogue with the Dalai Lama in order to have a "political legitimacy"  at the Games' opening ceremony."

UK Socialist member Richard Howitt, deputy chairman of the human rights committee,  used the plenary debate to call on China to use the Beijing Games to open itself up to the world.

He urged the Chinese government not to misuse the Games to arrest dissidents, journalists and human rights activists.

Howitt said, "Human rights issues should be raised during the Chinese-EU political dialogue, which will take place on the 5 May, as a key test of whether the Chinese regime is willing to commit itself to veritable improvements in human rights in advance of the 2008 Olympics".

"At the current time, China is more open to international opinion than at any other time in living memory. The Chinese-EU human rights meeting will be an opportunity to call for concrete improvements in Tibet and throughout the country.”

The committee recently met with the Chinese ambassador at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva to discuss the situation in Tibet and has requested a visit to China to view the situation first hand before the Games.

 

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