Strasbourg, 19/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - In a resolution on the situation in Tibet and Hong Kong adopted on Thursday, the European Parliament writes that tens of thousands demonstrated in Hong Kong on 4 December calling for full democracy and a timetable for universal suffrage acceptable to all democratic parties and the public (foreseen in the Basic Law for Hong Kong) rather than the current system whereby the head of the Hong Kong Executive is selected by a committee of some 800 Hong Kong residents themselves selected by the Chinese authorities.
In the same resolution, the EP calls on China to end the 'patriotic education' campaign in Tibet that started in October 2005 under which Tibetans have to sign statements condemning the Dalai Lama as a 'dangerous separatist', and to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death of young Tibetan monk Ngawang Jangchub during a 'patriotic education' session. The EP urges China to release the five monks arrested on 23 November 2005 during a blockade of Drepung Monastery in Lhasa and calls on the EU to firmly raise these issues at EU-China meetings on human rights and to maintain the EU's arms embargo on China.