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EU: SARKOZY SEEKS TO LIFT ARMS EMBARGO AGAINST CHINA(English IPS News Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) BRUSSELS, Belgium, Nov. 28, 2007 (IPS/GIN) -- France and China's signing of commercial contracts worth $30 billion, mainly for Airbus planes, underscored the fact that recent tensions involving food safety and human rights issues have not soured the attractiveness of the Chinese market for Western firms. French President Nicolas Sarkozy signed the deal Monday during his visit to Beijing. No doubt hoping for similarly lucrative deals for his country's arms industry, Sarkozy used his visit to reiterate French demands that the embargo on European Union weapons sales to China be lifted. The embargo was imposed following the 1989 massacre of student demonstrators in Tiananmen Square. The immense potential offered by China may partly explain why EU representatives -- who are currently in Beijing for the 10th Annual China-EU Summit -- are broaching human rights issues with a certain degree of timidity. The EU's executive, the European Commission, regularly claims to take human rights into account in all its dealings with foreign countries. Yet when Jos Manuel Barroso -- the commission's president -- gave an eve-of- summit address to the Communist Party Central School, he made no more than an indirect allusion to the repressive nature of the Chinese state. China and Europe "do not share the same political system," Barroso noted, adding: "Each day in Europe, we see how the development of associations and nongovernmental groups, how a free and independent press and a strong independent judiciary complement the actions of governments, political parties and institutions to promote the rule of law, to strengthen the social tissue and harmony in our societies." Phelim Kyne, a China specialist with Human Rights Watch, is adamant that business interests must not take precedence over concern for basic freedoms. "Obviously, trade relations are of serious importance," Kyne said. "However, we stress that trade and human rights cannot and should not be separated: They can be addressed in tandem. To isolate them would be a disservice to the principles of the EU and its member states." Kyne said the EU has a "golden opportunity" to have greater leverage with China, given that Beijing is scheduled to host the 2008 Olympic Games. As part of its bid to hold the sporting event, the Chinese authorities promised in 2001 that preparations for the Olympics would contribute to an overall improvement in human rights. While some progress has been made on paper, activists complain that abuses of human rights remain systematic and widespread. In December 2006, Chinese authorities stated that new regulations were being introduced to allow foreign journalists -- though not domestic press -- greater freedom in the period leading up to the Olympics. The regulations are set to expire in October 2008, although Cai Wu, a minister in charge of the State Council Information Office, has indicated they could be extended indefinitely. Journalists continue to face high levels of harassment and intimidation, even though the new regulations have been in force since January of this year. On Nov. 20, for example, a Swiss television crew investigating a wave of land confiscations was attacked and detained for several hours by what Kyne described as "plainclothes thugs." The crew was released after it agreed to have one of its tapes erased. "From early next year, 20,000 foreign journalists -- including thousands of European journalists -- will be descending on Beijing to do curtain-raisers," Kyne said. "These people are at risk -- they will be entering a city opposed to the idea of a free media." Eleven Chinese dissidents were invited to attend a hearing held in the European Parliament this week but none were able to obtain from Beijing the visas needed for travel to Brussels. Hu Jia, an environmental and AIDS awareness campaigner, spoke to the parliament meeting through a phone-link from Beijing, where he is under house arrest. Hu complained that one of the main organizers of the 2008 Games -- Ma Zhenchuan -- is also the head of the security bureau in Beijing. "The 70,000 police under the security bureau are arresting people every day," Hu said. "For example, a lot of AIDS patients have gone to Beijing to find legal solutions for their problems. They are getting arrested every day by the police. It is really ironic that the main commander of the Olympic Games is also the commander of the security bureau. It is like the mafia being in charge of the Olympics." Hu encouraged the 27-member EU not to be swayed by Sarkozy's efforts to scrap the arms embargo. "Europe should be holding strong to the principle of not selling weapons," he said. "This is sending a strong message to the People's Republic of China that what they are doing should not be allowed." Pl Schmitt, a Hungarian member of the European Parliament and of the International Olympic Committee, said the committee should issue a strong statement about the human rights situation in China. "We are a sports organization," said Schmitt, who holds an Olympic medal for fencing. "But we can't just close our ears to what is happening on the outside." In response to Beijing's ire over a meeting held in September between Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and the Dalai Lama, the International Campaign for Tibet is calling on European leaders to publicly express solidarity with the exiled Buddhist leader. Campaign spokesman Vincent Metten said authorities in Beijing are showing an increasing desire to control Tibetan Buddhism lately by stipulating that the Dalai Lama's successor must have their approval. Metten applauded the decision by President George W. Bush to be photographed alongside the Dalai Lama last month when he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his work on peace and human rights. "This needs to be done in Europe too," Metten said, "We hope that Sarkozy, [Italian Prime Minister Romano] Prodi, and [the U.K.'s] Gordon Brown will all have the courage to appear in public with the Dalai Lama." Copyright 2007 Global Information Network |