Brussels, 12/06/2001 (Agence Europe) - A delegation of the European Parliament PES Group made a visit to China at the end of May, at the invitation of the Communist Party and the Chinese Government. While there, it held open and lively discussions and the Chinese showed a "clear wish to improve relations with the European Union as well as the desire to develop political dialogue in order to learn more about the workings and methods of Social Democrat parties", stresses a PES press release. The delegation, headed by the group's leader, Enrique Baron, was informed of the successes achieved in China's structural economic reform. The authorities also informed him of "their anxiety over problems which the process of modernisation, liberalisation and change could cause to political stability and which they recognised had already caused social imbalances", the press release reads. "If the Chinese nation cannot participate in economic development, there will be unhappiness in the population and this will lead to political problems", Dai Binkguo, head of the International Department of the CCP, told MEPs.
The many questions raised by the Chinese "demonstrated a considerable interest on their part to learn about the social-democratic structure of the social economy of the single market in Europe", states Mr Baron. The development of the civil society, reform of the legal system, rationalisation of the administration, and improvements in education and training in China were at the heart of the concerns expressed by his discussion partners. The delegation, which attended the act of signing a technical assistance programme for the training of experts for election of local governments, sponsored by the Commission, noted the presence of many European ministers during the signing process as a sign "underlining the strengthening of diplomatic Chinese-European relations". MEPs, however, confirm that "discussions (…) did become problematic when questions were raised which were considered sensitive for Beijing: democratisation, public freedom, human rights and especially the death penalty". Regarding the differences on the subject of Taiwan and Tibet, strong criticism was voiced on the Chinese side and Europe called for "more flexible dialogue".