The President of the Tibet Intergroup of the EP, MEP Thomas Mann, stated concerning today´s visit of the Chinese Head of State Xi Jinping in Brussels:

“Xi Jinping is the first Chinese Head of State to visit the EU institutions in Brussels and I expect Council President Herman van Rompuy, Commission President Manuel Barroso and Martin Schulz, the President of the European Parliament (EP), to discuss intensively the question of Human Rights during their talks with him today. The Tibet Intergroup initiated a big number of official EP resolutions, plenary debates and written questions, criticising the repressions and violations of Human Rights in China. This clear position of the EP must result in strong statements on Tibet today!”

“The visit shows the importance of the EU institutions to the Chinese government. It is the task of the leaders of these institutions to show today that Europe is willing to act strongly in the field of Human Rights. I expect that they point out that a possible agreement on investments between the EU and China should include binding social and environmental clauses. They should also decline the Chinese requests to lift the EU’s arms embargo as long as Chinese authorities abuse fundamental rights”, underlined Thomas Mann.