believes that the 40th anniversary of EU-China relations in 2015 provides a real opportunity for progress in this area; 51. Urges the EU to continue pressing for an improvement of the human rights situation in China whenever dialogues are held at any level and to include human rights clauses in any bilateral treaty agreed with China; 52. Welcomes the 33rd EU-China Dialogue on Human Rights of 8 and 9 December 2014; notes that the dialogue, together with pressure from other international partners, has contributed to some concrete actions; stresses that the EU has made it clear on several occasions that it wanted the dialogue to achieve more tangible improvements in the human rights situation on the ground; 53. Recalls that the universality of human rights has always been at the heart of EU-China human rights dialogues; notes with concern that in the official Chinese view universality is questioned on grounds of cultural differences, and that this has been an important source of conceptual differences leading to lack of understanding and distrust in EU-China relations and limiting progress in the EU-China human rights dialogues; calls, therefore, on the Chinese leadership to reconsider how it approaches the question and to respect the universality of human rights consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; urges further that the EU institutions work together with the Chinese authorities in their dialogues in order to advance respect for universality; 54. Remains highly concerned that China is currently the world’s largest executioner and continues to impose the death penalty in secret on thousands of people annually, without regard to international minimum standards on the use of the death penalty; emphasises once again that abolition of the death penalty contributes to the enhancement of human dignity and the progressive development of human rights; 55. Remains concerned at the persisting severe restrictions on freedom of expression, association, assembly, and religion, as well on the activities of human rights organisations; 56. Deplores the often discriminatory treatment of religious and ethnic minorities in China; 57. Criticises the fact that while in China freedom of religion is not a right nominally guaranteed by the constitution, in practice the government restricts religious practices to officially approved and recognised religious organisations; supports the resistance of Chinese churches to the government’s renewed strategy of ‘sinicisation’ of Christianity; condemns, in particular, the ongoing anti-Christian campaign in the province of Zhejiang, during which dozens of churches were demolished and more than 400 crosses removed in 2014; shares the concerns of churches about other provinces where there is a strong Christian presence; condemns, moreover, the anti-Buddhism campaigns carried out via the ‘patriotic education’ approach, including measures to state-manage Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries; condemns ‘legal education’ programmes for Buddhist monks and nuns; cannot understand or accept the ban on images of the Dalai Lama in China; is concerned that China’s criminal law is being abused to persecute Tibetans and Buddhists, whose religious activities are equated with ‘separatism’, and sees its concerns confirmed as monks and nuns now account for approximately 44 % of political prisoners in Tibet; deplores the fact that the environment for practising Buddhism in Tibet has worsened significantly after the Tibetan protests of March 2008, with the Chinese government adopting a more pervasive approach to ‘patriotic