Activities of Hilde VAUTMANS related to 2023/2127(INI)
Plenary speeches (2)
EU-China relations (debate)
EU-China relations (debate)
Reports (1)
REPORT on a European Parliament recommendation to the Council and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy concerning EU-China relations
Amendments (34)
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
– having regard to the Commission Recommendation on critical technology areas for the EU's economic security for further risk assessment with Member States (C(2023) 6689 final),
Amendment 76 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
Ca. whereas China in 2021 dismantled democracy in Hong Kong and has since cracked down on political opposition and pro-democracy activists and their family members in Hong Kong and abroad;
Amendment 86 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas China is changing and moving into a new era of security and control characterised by an increasingly assertive economic and foreign, foreign and defence policy, attempts to change the international rules- based order and increasingly oppressive domestic policies;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D a (new)
Recital D a (new)
Da. whereas numerous critics, including by human rights organisations, have accused China of using the government-funded Confucius Institutes and their classrooms on campus as platforms to spread propaganda under the guise of teaching, interfere with academic freedom and free speech on campuses by means of censorship of certain topics and perspectives in course materials on political grounds, particularly topics related to ethnic minorities in China, and even to spy on students and other members of the Chinese diaspora abroad;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas the EU can only credibly defend its interests and values against an increasingly assertive China if it acts with a single, united approach and remains consistent with its message;
Amendment 118 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas the EU must not acceptoppose critical political or military support by China for Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine or for any circumvention of EU sanctions imposed following Russia’s illegal invasion;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas the EU must not accept any unilateral change to the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, particularly by force, nor ongoing human rights violations within China, in particular in Xinjiang, Tibet, Inner Mongolia and Hong Kong, as well as transnational repression of Hong Kongers, Uighurs, Tibetans and other Chinese nationals;
Amendment 143 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H a (new)
Recital H a (new)
Ha. whereas China’s grey-zone activities, such as warplane incursions, missile drills, economic coercion, and cyberattacks, aim to pressure Taiwan into submission;
Amendment 148 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H b (new)
Recital H b (new)
Hb. whereas China’s expansionist policies and harassment behaviour in the South China Sea demonstrate a flagrant disregard for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the freedom of navigation;
Amendment 150 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H c (new)
Recital H c (new)
Hc. whereas in recent decades China has grown its presence in almost every African country, which China uses to increase its international influence and secure its economic interests, especially access to Africa's vast natural resources and huge market; whereas Chinese investments and loans in Africa and beyond are not subject to good governance or respect for human rights;
Amendment 152 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H d (new)
Recital H d (new)
Hd. whereas the Chinese government is strengthening its role and influence in international institutions, including in the United Nations and its Human Rights Council;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) continue engaging with China to tackle global challenges such as climate change and loss of biodiversity, health and pandemic preparedness, debt relief and humanitarian assistance, and increase dialogue with China on security issues in view of China’s increasingly critical role in global security;
Amendment 171 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point a
Paragraph 1 – point a
(a) continue engaging with China to tackle global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity, health and pandemic preparedness, debt relief and humanitarian assistance, and increase dialogue with China on security issueinternational partners in view of China’s increasingly critical role in global security;
Amendment 216 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
(ea) strongly oppose China’s constant misinterpretation and distortion of the UN Resolution 2758(XXVI) which contains no mention of People’s Republic of China’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan, nor does it authorize the PRC to represent Taiwan in the UN system; express grave concerns that Taiwanese passport holders, including journalists, NGO workers and political activists, continued to be barred from accessing tours and events in the UN;
Amendment 217 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
(ea) ensure participation of liberal democracies at all levels in the multilateral organisations where China is actively trying to reshape norms;
Amendment 225 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f
Paragraph 1 – point f
(f) respond adequately to China’s efforts to build alternative international organisations, including through the BRICS group of countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), by ensuring better coordination among the EU Member States and intensifying partnerships with like-minded partners around the world, such as the US, Japan, and South Korea;
Amendment 229 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point f a (new)
(fa) increase EU’s presence in the Global South through its Global Gateway project, to create alternative secure infrastructure to China’s Belt and Road Initiative;
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point g
Paragraph 1 – point g
(g) insist that China fulfils its responsibilities as a global power by upholding human rights and the rule of law, according to international standards;
Amendment 254 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h
Paragraph 1 – point h
(h) ensure a unified European approach, coordinated with international like-minded partners, when China uses its economic leverage to silence opposition against its human rights abuses; intensify and include Members of the European Parliament in the Human Rights Dialogue with China and work towards a united approach on cultural and academic cooperation with China while preventing undue influence from Chinese sources of finance;
Amendment 263 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point h a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point h a (new)
(ha) intensify and include Members of the European Parliament in the Human Rights Dialogue with China and work towards a united approach on cultural and academic cooperation with China while preventing undue influence from Chinese sources of finance;
Amendment 271 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i
Paragraph 1 – point i
(i) support an independent and impartial UN investigation into human rights violations in China, in particular in Xinjiang and Tibet, and urge the Chinese authorities to grant meaningful access to the regions concerned and immediately and unconditionally release the Uyghur scholar and 2019 Sakharov Prize Laureate Ilham Tohti and all other activists imprisoned and tortured because of regime opposition;
Amendment 275 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
(ia) condemn Chinese authorities assimilationist policies in Tibet that violate the educational, religious, cultural and linguistic rights of the Tibetan people and threaten to ultimately eradicate Tibetan culture and identity, in particular the compulsory boarding school and pre- school system which separates over 1 million Tibetan children from their families and enforces Chinese-language education; urge China to immediately abolish the boarding school and pre- school system imposed on Tibetan children, to allow private Tibetan schools to be established and to ensure that Mandarin is not the only language of instruction in Tibet; consider adopting sanctions on Chinese officials responsible for designing and implementing the boarding school and preschool system in Tibet;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point i a (new)
(ia) closely observe and condemn the Chinese government’s measures to suppress religious freedom, including the forced affiliation of bishops with the CCP-controlled Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association;
Amendment 286 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point i b (new)
Paragraph 1 – point i b (new)
(ib) condemn the promulgation of the “Administrative Measures for Religious Activity Venues” (also known as “Order number 19”) that came into force on 1 September 2023 and intensifies the ongoing repression on Tibetans and other ethnic and religious minorities, notably by requiring temples, monasteries, mosques, churches and other religious sites to “uphold the leadership of the CCP and the socialist system, thoroughly implement Xi Jinping’s ideology of socialism with Chinese characteristics for the new era (...) [and] adhere to the direction of Sinicization of China’s religions”;
Amendment 322 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point m
Paragraph 1 – point m
(m) review the autonomous status of Hong Kong in the light of the National Security Law and the PRC’s violation of its international commitments, its breaches of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the ‘one country, two systems’ principle, and the crackdown on Hong Kong’s autonomy and opposition figures, including members of civil society, and their family members;
Amendment 337 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point n a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point n a (new)
(na) elaborate a mechanism through which political refugees from Hong Kong could settle and work on the territory of the EU;
Amendment 366 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point p
Paragraph 1 – point p
(p) work towards a renewed, assertive and coherent EU approach towards China that shapes relations with the PRC in the interest of the EU as a whole and takes full account of the challenges stemming from the PRC’s rise as a global actor, especially in the military and technological domains and its increasingly oppressive domestic policies and assertive foreign policy;
Amendment 374 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point q
Paragraph 1 – point q
(q) strengthen the EU’s economic autonomy, and develop effective approaches to counter China’s targeted economic coercion towards Member States, such as in the case of Lithuania; ensure mutually beneficial economic relations and prevent sensitive technologies from being used for military purposes by de-risking trade flows and reducing critical dependencies on the PRC without aiming to decouple or turning inwards;
Amendment 401 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point s
Paragraph 1 – point s
(s) work towards a more coordinated approach towards the protection of critical infrastructure at EU level and think in terms of security beyond economic interests;
Amendment 416 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point t a (new)
Paragraph 1 – point t a (new)
(ta) express grave concern about the accusations of the misuse of Confucius Institutes as platforms to spread propaganda, to censor all debate about topics deemed “politically sensitive” by Chinese government, and to spy on students and the Chinese diaspora abroad; closely monitor the impact of Chinese government interference in academic freedom in European educational institutions and campuses;
Amendment 421 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point u
Paragraph 1 – point u
(u) highlight that the EU’s ‘One China policy’ remains the foundation of our engagement with both the PRC and Taiwan but also underline the positive effect and strategic importance of deepening ties between the EU and Taiwan, which is a reliable and valued like-minded partner in Asia;
Amendment 432 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point v
Paragraph 1 – point v
(v) revisit the EU’s engagement policy with Taiwan in order to intensify the cooperation and continue supporting democracy there together with like-minded partners; encourage further exchanges between Parliament and its Taiwanese counterparts in this context;
Amendment 443 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point w
Paragraph 1 – point w
(w) ensure that the status quo in the Taiwan Strait is not changed by means of force or coercion by supporting initiatives aimed at promoting dialogue, cooperation and confidence-building between the two sides; prepare a scenario-based strategy for tackling potential security challenges in the Taiwan Strait; take concrete steps to discourage China from escalating tensions in the region, including increasing Coordinated Maritime Presences in the Taiwan Strait, facilitating Taiwan’s military capability- building and considering economic sanction packages in the event of a Chinese invasion;
Amendment 446 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1 – point w
Paragraph 1 – point w
(w) ensure that the status quo in the Taiwan Strait is not changed by means of force or coercion by supporting initiatives aimed at promoting dialogue, cooperation and confidence-building between the two sides; prepare a scenario-based strategy for tackling potential security challenges in the Taiwan Strait and work together with like- minded democracies to prevent an invasion of Taiwan;