MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on China, notably the situation of religious and ethnic minorites
16.4.2019 - (2019/2690(RSP))
pursuant to Rule 135 of the Rules of Procedure
Elena Valenciano, Soraya Poston behalf of the S&D Group
See also joint motion for a resolution RC-B8-0255/2019
B8‑0258/2019
European Parliament resolution on China, notably the situation of religious and ethnic minorites
The European Parliament,
-having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in China, in particular the one of 4 October 2018 on mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the one of 12 September 2018 on the state of EU-China relations, the one of of 18 January 2018 on the cases of the human rights activists Wu Gan, Xie Yang, Lee Ming-che and Tashi Wangchuk, and the Tibetan monk Choekyi, the one of 6 July 2017 on the cases of Nobel Laurate Liu Xiaobo and Lee Ming-Che, the one of 15 December 2016 on the cases of the Larung Gar Tibetan Buddhist Academy and Ilham Tohti, the one of 24 November 2016 on the case of Gui Minhai, jailed publisher in China,
-having regard to the “Joint statement of the 21st EU-China summit” of 9 April 2019,
-having regard to 37th EU-China Human Rights Dialogue held in Brussels on 1-2 April 2019,
-having regard to the Joint Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council “EU- China - A Strategic outlook” by the European Commission and HR/VP (12 March 2019),
-having regard to the EU’s Item 4 oral statements at the 39th session of the UN Human Rights Council on 18 September 2018 by the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Finland and Canada, which expressed concern at the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs in ‘re-education’ camps in Xinjiang,
-having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 16 December 1966,
-having regard to Rules 135(5) and 123(4) of its Rules of Procedure,
A.whereas the promotion and the respect for human rights, democracy and the rule of law should remain at the centre of the long standing relationship between the EU and China, in line with the EU’s commitment to uphold these values in its external action and China’s expressed interest in adhering to these very values in its own development and international cooperation;
B.whereas the situation in Xinjiang, where 10 million Muslim Uighurs and ethnic Kazakhs live, has rapidly deteriorated in the last years, as absolute control of Xinjiang has been elevated to a top priority, driven by alleged instability and security threats connected to Xinjiang by Uighurs and the strategic location of the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region for the BRI;
C.whereas there is solid information that Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other primarily Muslim ethnic minorities in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have been subjected to arbitrary detention, torture, egregious restrictions on religious practice and culture, and a digitized surveillance system so pervasive that every aspect of daily life is monitored —through facial recognition cameras, mobile phone scans, DNA collection, and an extensive and intrusive police presence;
D.whereas there are credible reports that at least hundreds of thousands, and possibly more than one million people are or have been detained in what are being called “political re-education” centers, the largest mass incarceration of an ethnic minority population in the world today; whereas there are reports that young children have been sent to state-run orphanages if even one of their parents is detained in the internment camps;
E.whereas the detention and persecution of Uighur and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang has compelled many to stop communicating with their family and friends based abroad, including in Europe, for fear of retribution by authorities;
F.whereas the regulations on religious affairs that entered into force in February 2018 restrict the activities of religious groups and force them to act more closely in line with party policies; whereas the new rules threaten persons associated with religious communities that do not have legal status in the country; whereas religious communities have been facing increasing repression in China,
G.whereas, in recent years, the Chinese Government has further tightened control over Christianity in its broad efforts to “Sinicize” religion or “adopt Chinese characteristics”; whereas the authorities have demolished hundreds of Christian churches or crosses on top of churches, evicted congregations, confiscated Bibles and other church materials, and installed surveillance cameras in the churches allowed to function;
H.whereas, on September 22, 2018, China and the Vatican signed an agreement concerning Bishop appointments in China;
I.whereas China has progressed in the last decades in the realisation of economic and social rights, by taking out 700 million people out of poverty;
J.whereas in its strategic framework on human rights and democracy, the EU pledges that human rights, democracy, and rule of law will be promoted “in all areas of the EU's external actions without exception” and that the EU will “place human rights at the centre of its relations with all third countries including strategic partners.”;
1.Calls onthe Chinese authorities in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region to provide information about the locations and medical conditions of those detained and immediately release them if there is no evidence of actual criminal activity;
2.Strongly condemns the sending of thousands of Uyghurs and ethnic Kazakhs to political ‘re-education camps’ based on analysis of the data harvested through a system of ‘predictive policing’, including for having travelled abroad or being adjudged to be too religiously devout; underlines that detention in any form, when applied in violation of fundamental rules of international law, persecution against any identifiable group on ethnic, cultural or religious grounds, and other inhumane acts causing great suffering or serious injury, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, generate reactions in line with the international legal framework assumed by China;
3.Expresses its deep concern regarding the reports about the harassment of Uighurs abroadby the Chinese authorities in order to compel them to act as informants against other Uighurs, return to Xinjiang or remain silent about the situation there, sometimes by detaining their family members;
4.Calls on the Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release the Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, and, in the meantime, to ensure that he has regular, unrestricted access to family and lawyers of his choice, and is not subjected to torture or other ill-treatment; calls for an immediate, effective and impartial investigation into the alleged torture against Ilham Tohti and to bring those responsible to justice;
5.Notes with concern that the vital importance of ‘long-term stability’ in Xinjiang to the success of BRI has resulted in the intensification of longstanding strategies of control augmented by a variety of technological innovations and a rapid increase in expenditure on domestic security, and the use of counter-terrorism measures to criminalise dissent and dissident individuals via the application of a broad definition of terrorism; is concerned by the state’s implementation of measures to ensure the ‘comprehensive supervision’ of the region via installation of China’s ‘Skynet’ electronic surveillance in major urban areas, installations of GPS trackers in all motor vehicles, use of facial recognition scanners at checkpoints and at train and petrol stations, and a blood-collecting effort by Xinjiang’s police to further expand China’s DNA database;
6.Calls on the Chinese authorities to uphold the linguistic, cultural, religious and other fundamental freedoms of Tibetans and to refrain from settlement policies in favour of the Han people and to the disadvantage of the Tibetans in historical territories of Tibet, as well as from forcing Tibetan nomads to abandon their traditional lifestyle;
7.Urges Chinese authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all human rights defenders, activists, lawyers, journalists and petitioners being detained for their human rights work, and to end the ongoing crackdown of detention, judicial harassment, and intimidation against them; underlines that Chinese authorities must ensure that all those held incommunicado are immediately put in contact with their family members and lawyers, and that the conditions of all those in detention must meet the standards set out in the ‘Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment', adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 43/173 of 9 December 1988, including access to medical care;
8.Urges the European Commission, Council and Member States to take all necessary measures to persuade the Chinese Government to close the camps and to end all human rights violations in Xinjiang; calls on the EU and its Member States to reiterate that message to the Chinese government at every occasion and at the highest levels; welcomes the decision taken by Germany and Sweden to suspend the return of all ethnic Uyghurs, Kazakhs or other Turkic Muslims to China in consideration of the risks of arbitrary detention, torture or other ill-treatment they would face in the country; calls on all other Member States to follow suit and to expedite asylum claims by Turkic Muslims at risk of being forcibly returned to China;
8a. (new) Underlines that in their joint statement issued after the 21st EU-China Summit, the EU and China reaffirmed that all human rights are universal, indivisible, interdependent and interrelated;
9.Expresses its disappointment at the fact that the 37th round of the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue brought no substantial results; regrets, furthermore, that the Chinese delegation did not take part on 2 April in the continuation of the dialogue that foresaw an exchange of views with civil society organisations;
10.Calls on the EU, its Member States and the international community to work towards the imposition of appropriate export control mechanisms to deny China access to technologies used to violate basic rights;
11.Recalls the importance for the EU to raise the issue of human rights violation in China, in particular the case of minorities in Tibet and Xinjiang, at every political and human rights dialogue with the Chinese authorities, in line with the EU’s commitment to project a strong, clear and unified voice in its approach to the country; further reminds that in its ongoing reform process and increasing global engagement China has opted into the international human rights framework by signing up to a wide range of international human rights treaties; therefore calls on pursuing a dialogue with China to live up to these commitments;
12.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Government and Parliament of the People’s Republic of China;