foreigners, including EU citizens, particularly for journalists, diplomats and other independent observers, and even more difficult for EU citizens of a Tibetan background; whereas no progress has been made in the resolution of the Tibetan crisis in the last few years as the last round of peace talks took place in 2010; whereas the deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Tibet has led to an increase of self-immolation cases with a total number of 156 since 2009; U. whereas the People’s Republic of China (PRC) State Council issued a white paper on the practice of the ‘one country, two systems’ policy in Hong Kong on 10 June 2014, stressing that the autonomy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) is ultimately subject to the central PRC Government’s authorisation; whereas over the years the people of Hong Kong have witnessed mass demonstrations in favour of democracy, media freedom and the full implementation of the Basic Law; whereas Hong Kong’s traditional open society has paved the way for the development of a genuine and independent civil society that actively and constructively takes part in the public life of the SAR; V. whereas the contrasting political developments of the PRC and Taiwan, with an increasingly authoritarian and nationalist party-state regime on one side and a multi-party democracy on the other, raises the danger of an escalation of the cross-strait relations; whereas the EU adheres to the ‘one China’ policy as regards Taiwan, and supports the ‘one country, two systems’ principle as regards Hong Kong; W. whereas after over three years of talks, China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed in August 2017 on a one-page framework as a basis for future discussions on a Code of Conduct (CoC) for all parties in the South China Sea; whereas the disputed Chinese land reclamation has largely been completed in the Spratly Islands, but continued last year in the Paracel Islands further north; X. whereas China too is becoming a more active and important external player in the Middle East due to its obvious economic, security and geopolitical interests; Y. whereas China is increasingly providing Official Development Aid (ODA) and is emerging as a major actor in development policy, providing a much-needed boost to development policy but at the same time raising concerns about local ownership of projects; Z. whereas China’s presence and investments in Africa have been greatly increasing and this has led to an exploitation of natural resources often without any consultation of local populations; 1. Reasserts that the EU-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership is one of the most important partnerships for the EU and that there is still much more potential for deepening this relationship and for further cooperation in the international arena; stresses the importance of strengthening cooperation and coordination in the field of global governance and international institutions, notably at UN and G20 level; stresses that in the context of a complex, globalised and multipolar world where China has become a significant economic and political actor, the EU has to maintain opportunities for a constructive dialogue and cooperation and to promote all necessary reforms in areas of common interest; reminds China of its international obligations and responsibilities in