Henrike Hahn, Bavarian member of the European Parliament (The Greens/EFA), industrial policy spokesperson of the German Delegation and member of the China delegation of the European Parliament, comments on today's adoption of the European Parliament resolution in Strasbourg on human rights violations in Xinjiang and the "Xinjiang Police Files":
"We spelled out today in the European Parliament that we are not like-minded friends of the totalitarian regime in China. We demand a ban on imports of products from Chinese forced labour and on products from Chinese companies in general produced with forced labour.
Companies like BASF and VW now received a clear request from the European Parliament to withdraw from Xinjian. Europe's increasing disengagement from the Chinese market is the logical step in light of the massive human rights violations. The EU is the second-largest market for Chinese exports, this is not an automatic permanent subscription.
European industry needs to examine its supply chains and find ways not to rely on raw materials from China. We need to take this into account this year in designing the EU industrial and raw materials strategy - precisely by the explicit strengthening of recycling, circular economy, and substitution of raw materials in Europe to become less dependent on Chinese raw materials.
The Xinjiang Files show us new images of horror. The EU, the Member States, and European companies have to take consequences. For many years, massive human rights violations have been committed against the Uyghurs, other Muslim minorities, and Tibetans. This is not a private matter of China. We now need a new EU sanctions package and additional action by the Council, G7, and G20 member states."
Background:
Under pressure from the EU Parliament, the Council and the European Commission had to withdraw their support for the investment agreement with the People's Republic of China. It is expected that the EU Commission will present a legislative proposal after summer this year.
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