The Greens | European Free Alliance in the European Parliament - – China

A delegation of 8 members of the Greens/EFA group in the European Parliament (led by group Co-President Monica Frassoni)*, together with the co-spokesperson of the European Green Party Philippe Lamberts, is currently taking part in a fact-finding mission in Beijing and Shanghai, from 24-31 August, on the invitation of the Communist Party in China. The delegation has held meetings with Communist Party members, officials and other relevant stakeholders on a wide range of issues, including environmental standards, the fight against climate change, management of resources, as well as democracy and freedom of expression, including press and labour rights in light of the upcoming Olympic Games. The delegation also met with civil society representatives active in the field of environment, human rights, agriculture and nature conservation in Chinaand visited the TSS-AMM electronic waste recycling plant in Shanghai.

The visit in Beijing centred on meetings with representatives of the Communist Party, including the vice-minister of Labour and Foreign Affairs, representatives of the Trade Ministry, the Environment Authorities and the Olympic Committee. These meetings demonstrated that both the party and the central government authorities have a heightened awareness of environmental global challenges and the impact on the economic development for China. While it is daunting to ensure that such a huge and fast developing society develops in a sustainable way, it is crucial for the world that it does so and the Greens support all efforts to this end.

The party and government authorities were interested to learn about European efforts to ensure sustainable and environmentally-friendly development. However, they do not fully accept that environmental protection and guaranteeing a decent quality of life entails creating a more open society, with free access to information for media and researchers, protection of civil activists who denounce pollution and/or corruption at local level, tolerance of independent sources of information and a system of accountability. They also do not fully recognise that the increasing importance of China in an ever globalising world entails responsibilities, including full participation in global attempts to combat climate change and not merely ad hoc voluntary commitments. The status of Tibet and recent crackdowns on NGOs and journalists remain serious causes for concern as well.

The delegation was very pleased that the Communist Party was keen to continue its efforts and proposed organising a common forum next year on issues like environmental management and energy. However, it was disappointing that the meetings with government officials were over-formal and not as open and productive as they could have been, particularly with the environmental authorities where there was a real opportunity to discuss concrete environmental issues. The delegation repeatedly expressed its support for some well known environmentalists and human right activists currently imprisoned or harassed, such as Wu Lihong.

* The delegation consisted of Monica Frassoni, Gisela Kallenbach, Michael Cramer, Helga Trüpel, Eva Lichtenberger, Raül Romeva, Milan Horacek and Tatjana Zdanoka.