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Stephen Hughes MEP turns spotlight on China
In Brussels this week, the European Parliament called on China to end the brutal repression by Chinese security forces against Tibetan demonstrators. Labour MEP Stephen Hughes, who recently visited Tibet, voted on a resolution condemning human rights abuses in Tibet.
Stephen Hughes MEP, Labour's representative on the European Parliament's delegation for relations between the EU and the People's Republic of China, used the debate in Brussels to call on China to use the Beijing Games to open itself up to the world and urged the Chinese government not to misuse the 2008 Olympic Games to arrest dissidents, journalists and human rights activists.
In Brussels, Stephen Hughes MEP said: "Human rights issues should be raised during the Chinese-EU political dialogue, which will take place on the 5th May, as a key test of whether the Chinese regime is willing to commit itself to veritable improvements in human rights in advance of the 2008 Olympics".
"At the current time, China is more open to international opinion than at any other time in living memory. The Chinese-EU human rights meeting will be an opportunity to call for concrete improvements in Tibet and throughout the country"
Stephen Hughes said.
Stephen Hughes and other members of the EU- China delegation travelled to Tibet to meet with Buddhist leaders to view the situation first hand before the Olympic Games and then to Beijing to discuss human rights issues with national Chinese politicians.
Notes to the editor:
1. The resolution on Tibet is available from http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=MOTION&language=EN&reference=P6-RC-2008-0133
The resolution was overwhelmingly carried.
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