EU/China: Don’t Ignore Human Rights
November 27, 2009

New York, Nov 27 -- The European Union should stop sidelining human rights in its official summits with China, Human Rights Watch said today. The EU announcement of the EU-China summit on November 30, 2009, in Nanjing, highlights climate change, the EU-China relationship after ratification of the Treaty of Lisbon, and economic relationships, but says nothing about human rights.

"The European Union always insists that human rights are a priority in its relations with China, but it has consistently downgraded rights issues in recent years,” said Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “The failure even to mention the subject of human rights on the summit agenda speaks volumes about its dwindling commitment. This is shocking at a time when the climate for rights in China is the worst in years and the government has been cracking down on journalists, lawyers and protesters in Xinjiang and Tibet."

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on China, please visit:
http://www.hrw.org/en/asia/china

For more information, please contact:

In Washington, DC, Sophie Richardson (English, Mandarin):
+1-202-612-4341; or +1-917-721-7473 (mobile)

In Hong Kong, Nicholas Bequelin (English, French, Mandarin):
+852-8198-1040 (mobile)

In London, Brad Adams (English): +44-20-7713-2767; or +44-7908-728-333 (mobile)