A non-legislative report by Vasco Graga Moura (EPP-ED,...

A non-legislative report by Vasco Graga Moura (EPP-ED, P) on the Commission's paper on an EU strategy towards China was adopted by the Foreign Affairs Committee with one vote against and two abstentions.
In response to the growing number of executions, the use of torture, the trafficking in human body parts - often taken from prisoners - and restrictions on the media, the report calls for the abolition of the death penalty and speedier reform of the justice system. The committee believes that the 2008 Olympic Games provide an opportunity for China to move in the right direction and it wants an international monitoring procedure to be put in place to observe the run-up to this event.
Chinese dissident Harry Wu, who addressed MEPs following the vote on Graga Moura's report, dwelt on the existence of labour camps in his country, the Chinese 'gulags' or 'laogao', a word which he believes should appear in all declarations and resolutions on China. Wu argues that dialogue with the Beijing authorities raises ethical problems and he is highly pessimistic about the chances of the Chinese authorities 'learning about democracy' ('you can't train a tiger to become a vegetarian'). He also fears that the 2008 Olympic Games may legitimise the current government rather than lifting the Chinese people out of their isolation.