Jan. 29, 2021 - Epoch Times
05:03
| 
| Time | Text |
|---|---|
| After seven years of negotiations, the Chinese Communist regime and the European Union reached the EU-China Comprehensive Investment Agreement in December 2020. | |
| Although the Chinese Communist Party, CCP, has made promises to the EU, such as market access and no more forced technology transfer, many have questioned and criticized this agreement. | |
| On January 25, Der Spiegel, a German weekly news magazine, published an open letter before the formal release of the agreement, In which over a hundred China experts criticised the EU for disregarding human rights for economic interests and called for the suspension of the agreement. | |
| The open letter addressed to EU institutions was provided to de Spiegel prior to the publication. | |
| Despite evidence of ethnic cleansing, forced labour and other gross human rights violations, the leadership of the European institutions have chosen to sign an agreement which exacts no meaningful commitments from the Chinese government to guarantee an end to crimes against humanity or slavery, it reads. | |
| EU diplomats and officials revealed that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who serves as the current President of the European Council, played a crucial role in pushing the EU countries to finalise this agreement with the CCP despite opposing voices. | |
| According to the agreement, Beijing will relax restrictions on European companies operating in China, including no longer requiring them to operate by establishing joint ventures or sharing sensitive technologies with China. | |
| However, the open letter pointed out that the agreement is based on a naive set of assumptions about the character of the Chinese Communist Party and entrenches Europe's existing strategic dependency on China and runs counter to Europe's core values. | |
| It cited examples of the CCP's human rights violations and infractions of its commitments in recent years, such as the suppression of the Hong Kong democracy movement, the forced labor camps in Xinjiang region to persecute Ouijers, sanctions against Australia, and confrontation with Taiwan. sanctions against Australia, and confrontation with Taiwan. | |
| Frank Su, a business professor at the University of South Carolina Aiken, revealed that it is the CCP's routine methods to separate the EU from the United States and seduce state leaders with interests. | |
| These politicians in European countries must have been seduced and compromised by the CCP. | |
| The CCP has fully revealed its ambitions, its dirty tricks and blatant violations of its commitment in international orders on many occasions, such as in the trade and investment deals with the United States and in its commitment with the WTO. | |
| The CCP never cares about keeping its promises. | |
| The agreement now needs to undergo approval by the national parliaments of the EU member states, which is estimated to take about a year. | |
| In addition, it's subject to ratification by the European Parliament in Brussels. | |
| Philippe Le Corais, a China scholar affiliated with Harvard's Kennedy School, commented that because of the CCP's crackdown in Hong Kong and the pandemic, public opinion was very disillusioned with the Chinese regime. | |
| And now we have this deal which is mainly designed to please a handful of German multinational companies. | |
| Nowadays, many people in the international community, or more specifically in the European Union, actually are against pro-China policies, so it remains unknown whether this agreement will finally pass at the European Parliament. | |
| It depends on whether the members of the European Parliament and those key decision-makers can listen to the people's voices, whether they have adequate political wisdom and sensible judgment. | |
| It's going to be a test for them. | |
| The authors of the open letter include scholars from the London School of Economics and Princeton University, Chairman of the World Uyghur Congress, Dolkan Issa, former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi di Santagata, and Professor Harriet Evans from the University of Westminster, an expert on gender rights and human rights in China. | |
| If I want to change the result, I think it would be To truly overturn the result, I believe more lobbying pressure is needed. | |
| Nonetheless, this open letter is actually a very good start. | |
| At least it indicates that European academics and dissidents have a good understanding of this issue. | |
| On January 21, the European Parliament held a video conference and passed a bill by an absolute majority condemning the CCP's suppression of Hong Kong's pro-democracy activists. | |
| It also issued a warning that the overall human rights situation in China, including the Hong Kong issue, will be taken into serious consideration when voting on whether to approve the China-EU investment agreement. | |
| Due to the new restrictions on social media our channel may be affected. | |
| If you'd like to stay tuned to our channel and receive notifications and updates please provide us with your email by clicking the link below. |
Export Selection