{"id":11917,"date":"2014-03-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-03-16T23:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/nieuws\/ict-fidh-open-letter-ahead-of-chinese-president-xi-jinpings-meeting-with-eu-leaders\/"},"modified":"2014-03-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2014-03-16T23:00:00","slug":"ict-fidh-open-letter-ahead-of-chinese-president-xi-jinpings-meeting-with-eu-leaders","status":"publish","type":"nieuws","link":"https:\/\/savetibet.nl\/en\/news\/ict-fidh-open-letter-ahead-of-chinese-president-xi-jinpings-meeting-with-eu-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"ICT-FIDH Open Letter Ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Meeting with EU Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"\nDear President Van Rompuy,\nDear President Barroso, \n\nAs the Chinese President Xi Jinping embarks on his first official visit to Europe this March, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) write to urge you to place human rights at the core of your talks. \n\nOur organisations greatly appreciate the fact that you have discussed human rights issues with the Chinese authorities during the EU-China Summit held in November 2013. However, we reiterate the need for these discussions to be result-oriented. \n\nIn that regard, we need to deplore the fact that the significant economic growth that has taken place in China over the last few years has not been matched by any meaningful progress in the fields of the rule of law, fight against corruption, respect for human rights and democracy as well as the environment. \n\nIt is our organisations\u2019 view that human rights conditions have deteriorated rather than improved in recent years. Xi Jinping\u2019s Presidency has so far failed to meet hopes for change in China. We have witnessed a further decline in freedom of expression, assembly and association. Moreover, human rights defenders and activists are often arbitrarily arrested, detained and subjected to enforced disappearance. Pervasive Internet and media controls remain in place. The rights of Tibetans and Uyghurs, including the enjoyment of their culture, have been further curtailed in the wake of protests in those regions and the government continues to strictly control the parameters of religious practice. Recently undertaken steps such as the abolition of re-education through labour (RTL) appear to be rather cosmetic, as authorities are resorting to other means of repression instead, and the party rhetoric has been backlashing on human rights, democracy and rule of law. \n\nIn the 25th anniversary year of the Tiananmen Square massacre and of the imposition of martial law in Lhasa, the Chinese government\u2019s violent crackdown and militarization in Tibet and in Xinjiang suggest that there has been no fundamental change in the way the authorities respond to peaceful protests and demands for reform by citizens. \n\nYour upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping represents an excellent and timely opportunity to continue expressing, privately and publicly, the EU\u2019s deep concern about the deterioration of the human rights situation in China and Tibet. We ask you to convey the message to President Xi that the Chinese government\u2019s current policy on human rights is unacceptable and a threat to bilateral relations. \n\nIn particular, and in line with the EU\u2019s obligation and commitment to promote values of human rights and democracy through its external action, we urge you to call upon President Xi to: \n