17/04/2008 Session
Strasbourg, 17.04.2008 – “China does not have a public relations problem, it has a human rights problem,” said Göran Lindblad (Sweden, EPP/CD), Chair of the Political Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), opening a hearing today on the political situation in China on the eve of the Olympic Games.
“The Olympics have put the spotlight on China, but not in the way the Chinese government thought they would,” he added. “They have put the spotlight on China’s lack of human rights and democracy.”
The hearing was addressed by a representative of the Dalai Lama, Jampal Chosang, and Chinese human rights defender Yang Jianli, a survivor of the Tiananmen massacre who spent five years in jail in China, as well as representatives of Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders.
The Vice-Consul of the Chinese Consulate in Strasbourg attended the hearing to observe the proceedings but did not take part.
Mr Yang called on the international community to seize the “window of opportunity” presented by the Olympics to pressure the Chinese authorities into improving the democratic and human rights situation in the country. He said that any world leaders attending the opening ceremony should set conditions on their participation.
Mr Chosang pointed out that the Dalai Lama and Tibetans generally looked forward to solving the Tibetan problem through non-violence and negotiation with the Chinese authorities. He added that since 1988 when he introduced the “Middle Way” policy, the Dalai Lama had never asked for independence for Tibet, only autonomy within China, and had supported the holding of the Olympic Games in China.
Corinna-Barbara Francis, from the East Asia Desk of Amnesty International, said there had been a deterioration of human rights in many areas, despite promises of improvements made in 2001 when China was bidding for the Olympic Games.
Olivier Basille, for Reporters Without Borders, said China continued to be “the biggest prison in the world” for journalists, many of whom were imprisoned, while official information was carefully controlled, international broadcasts jammed and the internet heavily policed.
Mr Lindblad concluded by calling for “real pluralism” and freedom of speech in China, as well as reform of the finance sector and free trade unions.