At their plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday 22 November, MEPs debated persecution, the erosion of the Rule of law and the flouting of judicial independence in Hong Kong.
A majority of them called on the EU to adopt a firm stance towards China regarding respect for human rights and international commitments, particularly in the context of the next EU-China summit, which will take place in December (see EUROPE 13290/15).
“This debate shows that Hong Kong matters to Europe”, said Dubravka Šuica, European Commission Vice-President responsible for Democracy and Demography. “The dismantling of autonomy, democracy and fundamental rights in Hong Kong affects us directly”.
She pointed out that the conclusions of the July 2020 European Council in response to the national security law imposed on Hong Kong by the Chinese authorities (see EUROPE 12538/10) were still valid.
However, several MEPs regretted “a total lack of reaction from the Council and the Commission, which is particularly frustrating”, as Miriam Lexmann (EPP, Slovakian) put it.
Commissioner Šuica replied that “we are continuing to implement the July 2020 package, but we are not planning any additional measures (...) It is the Council which must act unanimously”.
Isabel Santos (S&D, Portuguese) reiterated her call for the release of imprisoned pro-democracy activists (see EUROPE 13202/17) and insisted that the forthcoming EU-China summit should “not be a mere diplomatic soliloquy”.
“We call on the authorities to stop preventing journalists from carrying out their work, we condemn the Chinese authorities for violating the fundamental rights of the Hong Kong community (...) and we call on all Member States to suspend their extradition treaties with China, Hong Kong and Macao”, she continued.
“We have not heard any clear condemnation from the EU of this communist government”, criticised Anders Vistisen (ID, Danish): “China is developing, it is a military and economic power, and we have a completely flexible attitude towards this dictatorship”.
Fabio Massimo Castaldo (non-attached, Italian) called for the situation in Hong Kong to remain a priority, despite the fact that the subject was no longer in the media headlines due to “the dramatic nature of the war in Ukraine and the situation in Palestine”.
The conflict between Hamas and Israel did indeed find its way into the debate, with Mick Wallace (The Left, Irish) saying that the European Parliament was displaying “incoherence” in condemning the policy of the Chinese authorities in Hong Kong, but failing to take sufficient account of the human rights situation in the Gaza Strip by not taking a stance in favour of “an immediate ceasefire”.
A number of MEPs, such as David Lega (EPP, Swedish), expressed doubts about the importance that will be attached to respect for human rights more generally at the EU-China summit in December. (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)