Activities of Jean-Luc SCHAFFHAUSER related to 2015/2003(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
EU-China relations (debate) FR
Amendments (38)
Amendment 28 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 31
Citation 31
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 32
Citation 32
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 34
Citation 34
Amendment 42 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 36 a (new)
Citation 36 a (new)
– having regard to the Charter of the United Nations of 26 June 1945,
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 36 b (new)
Citation 36 b (new)
– having regard to the Cocoyoc Declaration of 23 October 1974,
Amendment 44 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas 2015 marks the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the EU and China; whereas the EU-China Strategic Partnership is of key importance to relations between the EU and the People’s Republic ofbetween the Member States and China is of key importance whereas the European Union intends to respect the exclusive competence of states in their relations with China (PRC) and, to finding mutual answers to a range of global concernherefore, has no wish to interfere with the action of Member States with inconsequential and ill-judged pronouncements;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas China is pressing for statutory investment protection backed by investor- state-dispute settlement (ISDS) procedures during the negotiations on a bilateral investment treaty (BIT); whereas the Member States cannot be forced to infringe common international law in bilateral or multilateral treaty negotiations via investor-state-dispute settlement procedures entailing the representation of companies by states;
Amendment 77 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas President Xi Jinping launched the ‘Chinese Dream’, which is aimed at revitalising the Chinese nation inside and outside the PRC by strengthening the power monopoly of the CPC, re- ideologising the party, the state and society and increasing the authority of the party leader; whereas, on the contrary, President Juncker does not appear able to propose a ‘European dream’ to restore the power of the Member States in Europe and the wider world; whereas, however, he instead intends to strengthen the power monopoly of the EU over the Member States by re-ideologising society and increasing the authority of the President of the Commission;
Amendment 87 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas China’s family planning policy has caused a rapid ageing process among the population since the 1980s, with over 200 million citizens now over 60 years old; whereas, furthermore, the EU policy of using immigration to ‘compensate’ for population aging is the road to economic and social disaster; whereas China and the Member States should cooperate on the issues of elderly persons, demographic decline and the need for genuine family policies;
Amendment 91 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas environmental degradation in China has taken dramatic proportions and requires powerful and targeted government action; whereas this degradation has taken place while Western countries have been exporting pollution to China via industrial relocation; whereas a change in the pattern of trade should now be negotiated for economic and ecological reasons;
Amendment 98 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas in 2013 and 2014 Beijing, Kunming and Urumqi were the targets of major and violent terrorist attacks, leaving 72 people dead and 356 injured; whereas China is preparing an anti-terror law, which underlines the fact that the government gives the fight against terrorism the highest priority; whereas China and the Member States are targets for terrorism and should therefore cooperate in implementing counter- terrorism policies;
Amendment 106 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital I
Recital I
I. whereas the main terrorist threats originate from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region; whereas both China and the Member States face terrorist threats posed by criminal groups supported by certain states in the West and elsewhere, such as Turkey and Saudi Arabia;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital K
Recital K
K. whereas the new White Paper on China’s military strategy postulates that the traditional mentality that land outweighs sea must be abandoned and that greater importance should be attached to managing the seas and protecting maritime rights and interests, something justified by US foreign policy, which is based on the power of the US navy, the most powerful navy in the history of the world, whose proximity to Chinese waters has given rise to a logical and justified reaction by China and the other surrounding powers;
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital L
Recital L
L. whereas, in a 2002 Declaration of Conduct, China and the ASEAN countries signified their willingness to create conditions for ‘a peaceful and durable solution’ in the South China Sea, an initiative that needs to be supported wholly independently of the negotiation process;
Amendment 120 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital M
Recital M
M. whereas China is North Korea’s main political supporter, largest investor, aid donor and trade partner; whereas Chinese experts recently revealed that North Korea may already have 20 nuclear warheads; whereas it is necessary to go beyond the current parameters, which enable the USA to maintain nearly 40 000 troops in Japan and more than 35 000 in Korea, and alleviate tensions with the regional powers with a view to ensuring peace and political transition in North Korea;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital N
Recital N
N. whereas in the wake of the Ukraine crisis Russia and China stepped up their mutual relations in an unprecedented way with a view to creating a focal point of stability for the continent by implementing Eurasian Union projects and opening up new silk roads;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital O
Recital O
O. whereas the Chinese Government acknowledges the importance and even the universality of human rights, but prefers to present this as an aspiration rather than a binding norm for the present, since human rights have become weapons of war and propaganda that are used by the West to standardise and beat into submission states that refuse to lie down;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital P
Recital P
P. whereas the CPC recognises five religions, which are ultimately controlled by the party’s own United Front Work Department; whereas the EU is no better placed to judge religious freedom beyond its borders since it fails to safeguard the fundamental rights of its opponents, including within its own Parliament;
Amendment 147 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital Q
Recital Q
Q. whereas the EU adheres to its one- China policy in the cross-strait relations between the PRC and Taiwan; whereas China and Taiwan are on the road to genuine reconciliation, as witnessed by the joint commemorations of Chinese resistance to the Japanese occupation; whereas the EU must remain strictly neutral in this case and let the process follow its natural course;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital R
Recital R
R. whereas Tibetans express their cultural identity through the Lhakar movement (‘white Wednesday’) by wearing only Tibetan clothes, speaking only Tibetan and eating only Tibetan food each Wednesday; whereas, however, Tibetans do not appear to be oppressed in respect of the learning and everyday use of their language, since everyone in Tibet, whether Tibetan or of another race, must learn Tibetan until adulthood; whereas, on the contrary, there are harshly persecuted minorities in Europe, such as the Russian-speaking population in the Baltic States;
Amendment 181 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Stresses the need for EU Member States to speak with one voice to the Chinese Government, particularly in view of Beijing’s present diplomatic dynamism; deplores the lack of profound debate and close coordination at EU level regarding Member States’ membership of the AIIBCalls for the Treaties to be applied to the letter concerning Member States’ autonomy to pursue their foreign policy as they see fit and their freedom of coordination in respect of the common good of maintaining privileged relations with China;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines the Chinese interest in strategic infrastructure investments in Europe; concludes, with regard to Beijing’s demand for ISDS procedures as an essential element of a BIT, that Brussels should reciprocally demand that provisions be included in the BIT that guarantee better access for and fairer treatment of EU companies on the Chinese market; emphasises that the best way of persuading our Chinese partners not to make use of ISDS procedure is not to show support for them in other contexts, such as the transatlantic agreement;
Amendment 251 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that President Xi Jinping is trying to give a new attractive face to Chinese politics through an attitude of openness and to impress world leaders by projecting both accessibility and powerful self-confidence; points out, however, that President Xi is not the new attractive face of Chinese politics for the country’s civil rights activists, lawyers, journalists, bloggers and academics, who find their freedom curbed in a way not seen since decades; points out that Europe has a history of colonialism, from which China suffered between 1830 and 1860; urges the EU to break with its habit of preaching to others in order to cover up its own faults; stresses that the right to sovereign powers is a universal right and a precondition for geopolitical balance and the freedom of peoples;
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Observes that, although the targets of the anti-corruption campaign extend to the highest political level, these seemwould appear to be limited to the allies of President Xi’s main rivals in the CPC; considers that this fierce ongoing anti-corruption campaign is, at the same time, serving to win back popular trust in the CPC, to discipline bureaucracy and to eliminate rivalscorruption inside the CPC; notes, furthermore, that anti-corruption campaigns are used by the United States as a means of waging economic war, and by the European Parliament as a means of political persecution;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Notes that the rapid ageing of the Chinese population poses significant risks to the country’s prosperity and social stability; notes that the government’s policy measures to tackle the issue (gradual relaxation of the one-child policy) have not yet led to a significant rise in the birth rate, mainly for economic reasons; notes that population ageing is a worldwide problem; proposes that joint discussions should be held on the issues of falling population figures and the oldest old, since using immigration to 'offset' falling birth rates is a failed policy that can only lead to the political and social disintegration of the Union;
Amendment 290 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Underlines the urgency of environmental protection measures, bearing in mind, for example, that in 2014 only eight out of 74 major cities reached the national standard of PM 2.5 air pollution concentrations; warns that the double water crisis (massive pollution combined with increased water usage) could cause major political and social instability; welcomes the fact that under the new environmental protection law local cadres are accountable, also retroactively, for environmental damage caused during their tenure; stresses, more generally, the urgent need to put an end to the industrial relocation system that has grown up largely as a result of EU policies, as is evidenced by Article 63 of the TFEU; stresses that the untrammelled free-trade system promoted by the EU merely relocates EU pollution to China and that any serious approach to environmental protection must, of necessity, involve regulation of free trade;
Amendment 308 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Observes that in recent years China’s anti-terrorism policy has evolved rapidly from a somewhat reactive ‘defence against terror’ approach to a proactive ‘war on terror’, along with permanent ‘crisis management’ entailing action to an unprecedented extent in affected regions and in society; points out that the US- inspired counter-terrorism policy pursued since 2001 is based on a form of permanent ‘crisis management’ that has involved and continues to involve interfering in society by, inter alia, restricting internet freedoms, setting up networks for illegal prisoner removals and building internment camps in which international law does not apply; calls for joint discussions and a pooling of experience on counter-terrorism, de- radicalisation and the identification of terrorist financing networks;
Amendment 316 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Deplores the fact that Xinjiang is caught in a vicious circle, given that, on the one hand, there are violent separatist and extremist groups among the Turkic- speaking Muslim Uyghurs, who do not, however, represent the vast majority, and that, on the other hand, Beijing for the sake of stability is increasingly responding to social unrest with repression, heightening the presence of its security apparatus in the region, alienating many Uyghurs from Beijing and nourishing anti-Han-Chinese sentiments among the Uyghur population; deplores, above all, the fact that the support the West is providing either directly or indirectly to terrorist organisations, such as the al-Nusra Font, ISIS and Chechen and Caucasian groups whose sphere of operations extends into China, is resulting in support being provided for the fundamentalist movements that are distabilising the Xinjiang region of China; urges the EU accordingly to stop providing such support and to use its influence with the United States to persuade them to do the same;
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that President Xi Jinping’s Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation, which foresees a stronger and more pro- active role for China in the world, calls for a commensurate EU strategy towards Asia within a transatlantic context; stresses that China’s rise as a global power requires a reconsideration of Europe’s strategic priorities in its relations with China as a matter of urgency; points out that China should be not seen as a challenge but as a partner with a long history of civilisation; calls, therefore, for the objective of changing China to be removed from official EU documents in which it has appeared since 1985 and from the websites of the EU institutions, and for an approach based on genuine dialogue and partnership to be pursued;
Amendment 344 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Notes the priority given by President Xi’s presidency to the relationship with the US, given his proposal for a ‘new type of major power relationship’ between China and the US; stresses that, if this view is perceived as a code word for dividing the Pacific into two spheres of influence, other countries in the region will be greatly concerned; maintains that policies that seek to divide the world into blocs are dangerous; stresses, therefore, that EU external actions based on such policies are a threat to global security, which is dependent on a multipolar balance with China;
Amendment 350 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Emphasises that the recent White Paper on China’s military strategy highlights Beijing’s intentions to further expand the Chinese navy and extend the range of its operations, shifting from ‘offshore waters defence’ to ‘open seas protection’; expects this to increase the current worries of China’s neighbours, to create more tensions in the Pacific and Indian Ocean and to endanger Europe’s crucial interest in freedom of navigation on the seas; points out, nonetheless, that that the recent shift in China’s maritime strategy is understandable in the light of the permanent threat to freedom of the seas posed by the US navy, which has a budget larger than that of China's military forces as a whole; calls for the European Parliament to assess the threat posed to the free movement of goods and persons, which is one of the basic principles underpinning the EU, having regard to sound trading practices;
Amendment 355 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Considers it regrettable that, contrary to the 2002 Declaration of Conduct, several parties are reclaiming land in the Spratly Islands, and is especially concerned about the massive scale of China’s present efforts, which include building military facilities, ports and at least one airstrip; warns against the looming danger of an increased presence of and confrontation between rivalling naval vessels and air patrols in the area; welcomes the fact that, on account of the lessons learned from recent conflicts, such as those in Iraq, Libya and Syria, the EU does not intend to interfere in disputes in the South China Sea, but instead to support a regional balance;
Amendment 360 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Recalls the necessity of avoiding unilateral provocative actions in the South China Sea and stresses the importance of peaceful settlement of disputes based on international law and with the help of impartial international mediation such as UNCLOS; considers it regrettable that China refuses to acknowledge the jurisdiction of both UNCLOS and the Court of Arbitration; endorses the urgent call by the 26th ASEAN Summit for the speedy adoption of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea; points out that this situation is complicated by the EU’s refusal to abide by established international law and the decisions of the International Court of Justice; urges the EU – as well as China – to come into line with international law and not to interfere in a situation in which no EU interests are at stake;
Amendment 369 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Urges the Chinese Government to use all its levers of influence to induce North Korea to return to credible denuclearisation talks and to take concrete steps to denuclearise; calls, in this connection, for the EU to restore security and stability in its immediate neighbourhood in order to set a positive example;
Amendment 384 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Draws Beijing’s attention to the indispensable role of the US and the EU with regard to China’s modernisation goals, given its support for Putin against the West; draws, in turn, the EU’s attention to the fact that the Asia-Pacific zone will be one of the key strategic areas of the 21st century and that our current stances need to be reviewed and Member States to be free to move their policies away from a dangerous and servile bloc- oriented approach;
Amendment 400 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that a strong contradiction exists between the official Chinese and EU aspiration to the universality of human rights and the worsening human rights situation; recommends that an end be put to the instrumentalisation of human rights, so that genuine progress may be made in this area;
Amendment 422 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Criticises the fact that in China freedom of religion is not a right, but a matter for the state, which sets the limits of what is permissible; supports the resistance of Chinese churches against the government’s renewed strategy of ‘sinicisation’ of Christianity; condemns, in particular, the ongoing anti-Christian campaign in the province of Zhejbelieves the sinicisation of Christianity to be perfectly normal; condemns the demolition of dozens of churches and the removal of more than 400 crosses removed in 2014; shares the concerns of churches about other provinces where there is a strong Christian presence; takes the view, nonetheless, that problems relating to religious freedoms in China can be eased by direct dialogue between authorities representing Christiangs, during which dozens of churches were demolished and more than 400 crosses removed in 2014; shares the concerns of churches about other provinces where there is a strong Christian presence; including the Vatican and China; deplores the fact that the EU appears to think it has the right to cast suspicion on Catholics by setting the West up as the voice of Catholicism, thereby exposing Chinese Catholics to the accusation of disloyalty to their country and, in practice, placing them in danger;
Amendment 441 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Protests against the marginalisation of Tibetan culture by the CPC and urges the Chinese authorities to respect the freedom of expression, association and religion of the Tibetan people once the EU has called on all its Member States to uphold the rights of their national minorities, such as the Russian-speaking communities in the Baltic States and Ukraine;