Chinese sanctions: Renew Europe calls on the European Commission to freeze the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment
Author: Lucian Goleanu
Date:
The Renew Europe Group in the European Parliament condemns in the strongest possible terms the baseless and arbitrary sanctions imposed by the Chinese authorities and calls on the European Council to speak out, take a firm stance against them and to adopt conclusions on the matter.
In a resolution today adopted by MEPs and initiated by our political group, Renew Europe strongly condemns this new attempt, and previous attempts, by the Chinese state and non-state actors to interfere in the democratic life of the European Union and of its Member States and spread disinformation in public debates.
MEPs stands in full solidarity with the Members of this Parliament, with its Subcommittee on Human Rights, and with all other individuals and entities affected by the Chinese sanctions and calls on the European Commission to freeze the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI):
MEP Hilde Vautmans (Open Vld, Belgium), Renew Europe’s coordinator in Foreign Affairs Committee and EP standing rapporteur on China, said:
“The EU must make it clear that it will not bow to China's deliberate tactics of pressure, censorship and intimidation to weaken human rights internationally. As long as the Chinese retaliatory sanctions are in place, we must freeze the EU-China CAI. The EU cannot both take the high moral ground and nonetheless go ahead with this deal when EU entities and elected MEPs and MPs are under sanctions solely for defending human rights.”
Renew Europe MEP Ilhan Kyuchyuk, (Movement for Rights and Freedoms, Bulgaria), who was directly targeted by the Chinese sanctions, added:
“The European Union made the right decision to impose sanctions on four Chinese individuals, but Beijing’s answer was completely disproportionate. Sanctioning members of the European Parliament only proved that EU’s action was the right thing to do and we should continue to support all the ethnic groups in China. Therefore, we have to insist on strong and enforceable human rights clauses in the EU-China CAI, which will allow us to protect human rights without undermining economic partnership and bilateral agreements.”
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