Merkel urged to speak out on human rights during China trip / Chancellor Merkel to Press China for Help in Darfur
Five largely related stories from today (updated to add the ones from Radio Australia and AFP):
(See also a separate GfbV press release.)
Amnesty International called [on] Saturday [for] German Chancellor Angela Merkel to criticize the human-rights situation in China, when she meets the country's leaders in Beijing next week.
'We hope that Chancellor Merkel will speak forcefully about the disastrous human-rights situation in China,' said Barbara Lochbihler, secretary general of the human-rights group's German section.
'The continued human-rights violations in China are in strong contrast to the official pledges to improve the human-rights situation,' she told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.
She said [that] she expected Chinese authorities to 'continue their harassment of human-rights campaigners' ahead of the Olympic Games that take place in Beijing next year.
There were also fears that journalists would also be subjected to increased pressure before the games begin, she said.
Merkel leaves Berlin on Sunday for Beijing at the start of a six-day trip to China and Japan [but, unfortunately, not South Korea - EJM] that is designed to underscore her commitment to the fight against global warming.
The chancellor raised the issue of human rights, and appealed for more democracy, when she met Chinese leaders during a previous visit to the world's most-populous nation.
Officials in Berlin say [that] Merkel will not shy away from difficult areas this time, and will bring up human rights and press freedom in her official talks in the Chinese capital.
She is scheduled to meet Chinese journalists, but it is not clear which ones and whether these have been put under pressure by Chinese authorities.
Calling the human-rights situation in China 'catastrophic,' Lochbihler pointed out that the death sentence can be imposed for around 70 different crimes, including drug possession and tax evasion.
Even the right of citizens to freedom of information is severely restricted, she said.
'If you key in the words [']human rights['], [']democracy['], or [']Amnesty International['] on an [Internet] search engine in China, you won't get a single response,' Lochbihler said.
As well as holding talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao, Merkel is expected to meet cultural and civil-rights groups in China and is to visit the German-Chinese Law Institute at the University of Nanjing.
Chancellor Angela Merkel has said [that] she will discuss ways to improve the human-rights situation in the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, when she meets Chinese leaders on the first leg of a trip to Asia starting on Sunday.
In her weekly podcast, Merkel said that China has close ties to Africa and "we will obviously talk about what we can do now to combat the appalling human-rights violations in Sudan's Darfur region."
Merkel arrives in China on Monday and will meet President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, as well as cultural and civil rights groups. She heads to Japan on Wednesday where she will talk to leaders there about climate change and economic issues.
Sudan, which has had a tense relationship with the West for some time now, expelled the European Union and Canadian envoys earlier this week, after accusing them of "interfering" in the country's internal affairs.
However, EU envoy Kent Degerfelt has been given a reprieve by Sudan. Khartoum will allow to remain until his tenure expires next month, following an EU apology, according to a presidential adviser who spoke on Saturday.
China has substantial economic interests in the African nation and has been under pressure to do more to quell the violence there, which is estimated to have cost 200,000 lives and [to have] displaced around 2.5 million people.
Urged to be tough on China
On Saturday, Amnesty International called on Merkel to also address the [topic] of human rights in China itself, when she meets the country's leaders.
"We hope that Chancellor Merkel will speak forcefully about the disastrous human-rights situation in China," said Barbara Lochbihler, secretary general of the human-rights group's German section.
"The continued human-rights violations in China are in strong contrast to the official pledges to improve the human-rights situation," she told the DPA news agency.
She said [that] she expected Chinese authorities to "continue their harassment of human-rights campaigners" ahead of the Olympic Games that will take place in Beijing next year. There were also fears that journalists would be subjected to increased pressure before the games begin, she said.
The chancellor raised the issue of human rights, and appealed for more democracy, when she met Chinese leaders during a previous visit to the world's most-populous nation.
Officials in Berlin say [that] Merkel will not shy away from difficult areas this time, and will bring up the topics of human rights and press freedom in her official talks in the Chinese capital. She is scheduled to meet Chinese journalists, but it is not clear which ones and whether these have been put under pressure by Chinese authorities.
Calling the human-rights situation in China "catastrophic," Lochbihler pointed out that the death sentence can be imposed for around 70 different crimes, including drug possession and tax evasion.
Even the right of citizens to freedom of information is severely restricted, she said.
"If you key in the words [']human rights['], [']democracy['], or [']Amnesty International['] in an Internet search engine in China, you won't get a single response," Lochbihler said.
From Reuters (also here)...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday [that] she would press China for help in ending human-rights violations in Sudan's Darfur region when she meets Chinese leaders next week.
"China has very close ties with Africa, and we will obviously talk about what we can do now to combat the appalling human-rights violations in Sudan's Darfur region," Merkel said in a statement from her weekly podcast.
Merkel arrives in China on Monday, and will meet President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, and cultural and civil rights groups.
She heads to Japan on Wednesday, where she will also address climate change and economic issues.
Sudan expelled the European Union and Canadian envoys to the northern African country this week, after accusing them of interfering in the nation's internal affairs. The EU envoy earned a reprieve on Saturday.
China has sizeable economic interests in Sudan, and has been under pressure to take a more-critical approach to Khartoum after accusations aid from Beijing feeds violence in Darfur.
Experts estimate [that] 200,000 have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes since violence erupted there in 2003.
Merkel said [that] she would again touch upon human-rights issues in China and protection of intellectual property rights.
Der Spiegel magazine reported on Saturday that top German government ministries, including Merkel's chancellery, had been infected by spying programmes from Chinese computer hackers.
Citing a report by German security services, the magazine said [that] authorities believed [that] China's People's Liberation Army, an arm of the Communist Party, was probably behind the attacks.
A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said [that] attacks from computer hackers were a continual problem, and [that] the government had taken measures to protect itself.
Asked whether Merkel would raise with China the subject of attacks by hackers, her spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said:
"We will, in general, hold intensive discussions with Chinese representatives on the subject of the protection of intellectual property," he told a news conference. "These will focus primarily on economic matters."
German industry says [that] product piracy by countries including China costs the economy billions of euros every year.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel says [that] she'll discuss Darfur and human rights with Beijing leaders, during her upcoming visit to China.
In a statement, she says [that] Germany and China have developed "very intense and close" relations.
Ms Merkel leaves today [Sunday] and will be in China until Wednesday for talks with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao.
She then visits Japan, where she'll be greeted by Emperor Akihito and meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Rights group Amnesty International has called on Ms Merkel to push for concrete commitments on human-rights improvements from Chinese officials.
China is by far the largest foreign investor in Sudan, and absorbs almost two thirds of its oil output.
It's been under mounting pressure to use its clout on Khartoum, when it comes to the conflict in the western region of Darfur.
From AFP...
German Chancellor Angela Merkel headed to China and Japan on Sunday for visits aimed at bolstering trade ties and binding the Asian giants to global climate-change goals.
Merkel will be in China until Wednesday for talks with President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao before her first visit to Japan, where she will meet Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and have an audience with Emperor Akihito.
The chancellor has the dual function of the leader of Europe's biggest economy, and the president of the Group of Eight most-industrialised nations [sic], a role [that] Japan will take over in 2008.
China's rapidly growing economy is set to overtake Germany's as the world's third-largest by the end of the year.
"Chinese industry is diversifying more and more into sectors where German industry is strong," a German official told reporters.
This has created a "discrepancy," the official said, because while China is now Germany's biggest trade partner in the Asia-Pacific region, just three percent of German exports go to the Chinese market.
Merkel will be accompanied by a delegation of 25 heads of German companies and industry representatives hoping to secure lucrative contracts [in order] to redress the balance.
The global fight to reduce greenhouse gases will form a crucial element of the chancellor's trip, coming just months before the international community is due to gather in Indonesia in December to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.
When Merkel hosted the G8 summit in the German resort of Heiligendamm in June, she invited five leading emerging economies -- China, Brazil, India, Mexico and South Africa -- to join talks on climate change.
China's startling economic expansion has been accompanied by a marked rise in pollution, but it is wary of measures to cut greenhouse gases that might hamper growth.
Instead, China wants developed nations to help it improve energy efficiency by providing it with the necessary technology.
Merkel said [that] she would not shy away from speaking with Chinese leaders about difficult issues like the conflict in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region, and human-rights issues in China such as freedom of the press ahead of the 2008 Olympics.
"We will of course speak about how we can combat the terrible human-rights violations in Sudan, in the Darfur region," the chancellor said in extracts of a video message distributed by her press service.
"We have economic and political relations that are so close that we can naturally discuss questions that are maybe conflicting," such as human rights in China, she said.
In Japan, Merkel will give a speech in Kyoto to mark 10 years since the international accord on cutting greenhouse gases was agreed in the city.
Merkel's talks with Abe, himself fresh from a visit to India to drum up trade, will include the ambitions of Japan and Germany to secure a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
The chancellor is also expected to briefly attend the World Athletics Championships in Osaka.
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