(10/04/08) Het EP vraagt onvoorwaardelijke open dialoog tussen Tibet en China

• 2008-04-10

Vandaag stemde het Europese Parlement in met de vraag van de groene fractie aan China om een onvoorwaardelijke dialoog te openen met de Dalai Lama. Het voorstel om de spirituele leider uit te nodigen op de openingsceremonie van de Olympische spelen werd verworpen.

De oproep om niet naar de openingsceremonie van de Spelen te gaan werd dan weer wel door het overgrote deel van het Parlement gesteund.

Met deze resolutie over Tibet is de boodschap voor de Raad en de Chinese autoriteiten duidelijk. Het is nu aan hen om aangepaste maatregelen te treffen.

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PERSBERICHT VAN DE GROENEN/EVA

EU Parliament calls for unconditional opening of talks between China and the Dalai Lama

Commenting on today's vote on a resolution on the situation in Tibet, Daniel Cohn-Bendit and Monica Frassoni, Co-Presidents of the Greens/EFA group said:

"By adopting this resolution with an overwhelming majority (1) today the European Parliament continues to exert pressure on China to improve the situation of Tibet and the human rights situation in the whole country. If the Chinese government wants to hold the Olympic Games in a dignified way, it has to address these problems in a constructive, forward thinking way as soon as possible and must not regress to Maoist reaction patterns.

Most importantly, the Chinese government has to open without pre-conditions a constructive dialogue with the Dalai Lama. We welcome that the European Parliament keeps the option open for a boycott of the Olympic Games opening ceremony, should there be no resumption of substantive and result-oriented negotiations between the Chinese Authorities and the Dalai Lama.

The European Parliament is right to call upon EU leaders and the EU High Representative to find a common position on boycotting the opening ceremony. The European Union must stand together if it is to move China to change its policies. We also call on the Council to finally appoint a special envoy for Tibetan issues – a long standing request by the European Parliament – in order to facilitate the dialogue and closely follow the negotiations once they are resumed.

As regards Tibetan demonstrators, the EU Parliament calls upon the Chinese authorities to release immediately all those who protested peacefully and exercised their legitimate right to freedom of expression.

China has to respect freedom of expression and human rights. It must not misuse the Olympic Games and suppress possible demonstrations by arresting dissidents, journalists and human rights activists. In this context, the European Parliament calls for the immediate release of Hu Jia, the prominent human rights activist and candidate for the Parliament's Sakharov prize, who was sentenced to three and half years in prison on subversion charges."

Notes:

(1) 580 in favour, 24 against

De ontwerpresolutie van de Groenen (o.a. Bart Staes) vindt u hier