MEPS CALL FOR RESPECTING CHINA’S TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY

Xinhua

July 16 2009
China

STRASBOURG, France, July 15 (Xinhua) — Some members of the European
Parliament (MEPs) on Wednesday called for respecting China’s
territorial integrity while debating response to the riots in the
northwest Chinese region of Xinjiang.

They pointed out the fact that the riots that occurred on July 5 in
Urumqi, capital of China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, were
instigated by Uygur separatists and that the majority of the victims
were ethnic Han Chinese.

Adrian Severin, a Romanian MEP who spoke for the Socialist group,
said minority rights should not be used as an excuse for separatist
policies and extremist means to promote these policies.

"We have to also ask everybody in this world to refrain from using
minority rights as a means for promoting geopolitical goals," he told
the chamber.

Charles Tannock of Britain said while most of the Uygur population
in Xinjiang are peaceful followers of Islam, "however, sadly, some
of the local population in recent years have become increasingly
radicalized by terrorists in league with Al-Qaeda."

As the EU pursues the one-China policy, "we shall not support in any
way the secession of Xinjiang," he said.

Tannock, who spoke for the European Conservatives and Reformists Group
(ECR), also blasted Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s
statement that the Xinjiang violence was a genocide of Uygurs.

Tannock noted that Erdogan has refused to recognize the Armenian
genocide by the Turks during and after World War I.

"His efforts to appeal to pan-Turkish nationalism are also
hypocritical, given Turkey’s treatment of its own minorities, and in
particular, the Kurds in eastern Turkey," he said.

Nirj Deva, also a British MEP, warned that the EU should not support
separatist forces in China.

"Supporting separatism anywhere in the world is against the spirit of
the EU … We cannot work to unite Europe at home and encourage the
break-up of China abroad. That is the road to chaos and conflict,"
he said.

Deva said that if the violence in Xinjiang was "encouraged and
perpetrated by outside forces, particularly separatist fundamentalist
forces, then they should be indicted in the International Criminal
Court; if they were home-grown, then it is a matter for the police
in China."

Certain MEPs attacked the Chinese government for its handling of the
violence or its policies on ethnic minorities in China.

Those MEPs simply would not recognize the fact that the violence was
carried out by separatists.

Struan Stevenson of Britain asked those MEPs to get the facts right
in the first place.

"The incidents which took place on the fifth of July involved
a premeditated attack… As we know, certain militants among the
Uygur population of Xinjiang are Islamic fundamentalists who demand a
separate state. They mounted a violent attack which led to the deaths
of 137 Han Chinese — so the vast majority of those killed were Han
Chinese," he said.

"Let’s base our criticism on facts," Stevenson concluded.

Sabine Loesing of Germany also criticized misconceptions regarding
the Uygurs in Xinjiang.

"The Uygurs in the region do enjoy many privileges. For example,
they are allowed to have more children. They are also allowed to
practice their religion during work hours," she told the chamber.

She said Europeans should take an unbiased look at things and better
inform themselves on the Uygurs.

"Here, things might be slightly different than they appear at first
glance. We ought to be cautious when it comes to adopting one-sided
positions," said Loesing, a member of the Confederal Group of the
European United Left – Nordic Green Left group.

She said the EU should support the Chinese in solving their problems.