Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 5 Nov 2003

Vol. 573 No. 4

Written Answers. - Human Rights Issues.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh

Ceist:

238 Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position the Government took on the decision to remove the issue of Tibet from the agenda of the sixth China-EU summit in Beijing on 30-31 October 2003; the EU member states which agreed to remove Tibet from the agenda; if the Government urged that the subject of Tibet be returned to the agenda during the summit; and if, in view of the fact that grave human rights violations continue daily in Tibet, the Government took the opportunity to urge China to enter into unconditional dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representatives for a negotiated solution for Tibet. [25891/03]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen)

The sixth EU-China summit meeting was hosted by the Chinese Premier, Mr. Wen Jiabao, in Beijing, on 30 October 2003. In line with EU convention in these matters, individual member states are represented by the Presidency at the summit. While Tibet was not agreed upon as a separate agenda item for the summit, the human rights dialogue, international human rights standards and UN human rights mechanisms were all the subject of discussion.

The EU was represented by Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy in his capacity as President of the European Council and by the President of the European Commission, Mr. Romano Prodi, and the high representative for EU common foreign and security policy, Mr. Javier Solana. Also participating in the summit were the Chinese Foreign Minister, Mr. Li Zhaoxing, the Minister of Science and Technology, Mr. Xu Guanhua, and the Vice-Minister of Commerce, Mr. Liao Xiaoqi, together with the Italian Foreign Minister, Mr. Franco Frattini, and the European Commissioner for Trade, Mr. Pascal Lamy. The Chinese President, Mr. Hu Jintao, also met the visiting European leaders.

In keeping with such meetings, the two sides briefed each other on recent developments in the EU and in China. They held an in-depth exchange of views on EU-China relations and on international and regional issues of common interest and signed two major new bilateral accords, the Galileo satellite navigation co-operation agreement, and the authorised destination status agreement, to facilitate Chinese group tourism in the EU.

The Deputy will be aware that Ireland established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China in 1979 and has, from that time, recognised Tibet as an integral part of China. Our ongoing concerns regarding the protection of human rights in Tibet continue to be addressed, along with the general human rights situation in China, both bilaterally and within the framework of the EU-China human rights dialogue as well as through appropriate action at the UN, including at the Commission on Human Rights.

At the summit, the parties welcomed the achievements of the human rights dialogue and reconfirmed their commitment to work towards achieving more meaningful and positive results on the ground. The joint expression of commitment to further enhance co-operation in the field of human rights is welcome in this regard. I would like to assure the Deputy that within the existing frameworks, Ireland will continue to call on the Chinese authorities to respect fully the rights of the Tibetan people.

I am encouraged by China's first ever policy paper on the EU published on 13 October 2003. This calls on EU representatives to visit Tibet and welcomes EU support for the economic, cultural, educational and social development of Tibet. The Government's position remains that the best way to achieve progress in relation to the situation in Tibet is through dialogue between the Government in Beijing and the Dalai Lama. In this regard, I welcome the reports of positive dialogue between Chinese officials and a delegation of the Dalai Lama's envoys when the latter visited China during the summer following the change of leadership in China.