The European Parliament adopted a resolution on human rights violations in China, notably the case of Liu Xiaobo.
The resolution had been tabled by the EPP, ALDE, Greens/ALE, ECR, GUE/NGL and EFD groups.
It calls for Liu Xiaobo's immediate and unconditional release and expresses its solidarity with his peaceful actions and initiatives in favour of democratic reforms and the protection of human rights; strongly condemns the judicial harassment of which he was a victim. To recall, Liu Xiaobo is one of the 303 signatories of Charter 2008, a petition calling for constitutional reform, democratisation and protection of human rights, which was subsequently signed by more than 10 000 Chinese citizens. On 25 December 2009 the Beijing Municipal No 1 Intermediate People's Court found Liu Xiaobo guilty of "inciting subversion of state power" and sentenced him to 11 years in prison. The government based this conviction on Mr Liu's role in drafting and organising the signing of Charter 2008 and on six essays criticising the Chinese Government, published between 2005 and 2007.
Parliament calls on the authorities of the People's Republic of China to honour the commitments they made before the Human Rights Council and comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on 9 December 1998. It deplores the fact that China, in the context of its Universal Periodic Review process of 2009, has rejected all the recommendations made by UN Member States in relation to freedom of expression, freedom of association, the independence of the judiciary, guarantees for the legal profession, protection of human rights defenders, the rights of ethnic minorities, abolition of the death penalty, abolition of re-education through labour, prohibition of torture, media freedom and effective remedies for discrimination.
Parliament stresses that China's human rights record remains a matter of serious concern and calls on the Council and the Commission to raise Liu Xiaobo's case at the next EU-China Summit. It takes note of the previous human rights dialogues with China and the EU-China human rights dialogue of 20 November, and insists on the need for strict follow-up between all such dialogues in order to ensure that the recommendations are implemented. Members emphasise the need to initiate comprehensive assessment and strengthening of the EU-China human rights dialogues, and they call for cases involving human rights defenders to be systematically raised during these dialogues and highlight the imprisonment of the 2008 Sakharov Prize winner Hu Jia and the harassment of his wife Zeng Jinyan. Parliament takes the view that the development of economic relations with China must be accompanied by effective political dialogue and demands that respect for human rights be an integral part of the new framework agreement currently being negotiated with China.
It condemns in the strongest terms the execution of Akmal Shaikh and reaffirms its absolute and longstanding opposition to the use of the death penalty in all circumstances.
Lastly, the resolution welcomes Google's intention to stop cooperating with the Chinese authorities in relation to internet filtering and censorship, and urges all other companies to do the same. It calls on China fully to respect freedom of speech on the internet, and expresses solidarity with China's internet users, who will be those most affected by Google's proposed departure.