that mistrials and other errors could be overlooked, leading to the execution of innocent people; considers that the application of the death penalty within an opaque judicial system, which lacks full transparency and in which the rights of the prisoner are as yet still not fully developed, is a grave error; calls on the Chinese authorities to reconsider their policy on capital punishment; 26. Stresses that the Strategic Partnership between the EU and China includes freedom of the media on a reciprocal basis, which implies press freedom for the Chinese media in Europe and also press freedom for European media in China; expects all the European institutions strongly to advocate this fundamental human rights principle in their contacts with their respective Chinese partners; 27. Deplores the control and censorship of the internet by the Chinese authorities; notes with concern that the Chinese Government is tightening its surveillance of the internet by means of a new law that forbids people from betraying state secrets, harming national pride, endangering the country’s ethnic unity or making calls for ‘illegal protests’ or ‘mass meetings’; notes that there is therefore no longer any real limit on censorship or persecution; is concerned by the lack of safeguards provided under the new law, making it possible to use it in an abusive way; emphasises that the terms ‘illegal protests’ and ‘mass meetings’ should only be used in situations where a law on peaceful and legal protests exists and is effective; encourages the Chinese Government to allow the expression of a plurality of opinions on the internet, in the media and, more generally, in the public sphere; recalls that the right to freedom of expression on the internet has recently been recognised by the UN Human Rights Council; 28. Is concerned about the entry into force of the new provisions relating to control of the internet, which legalise the closure of blogs and lay down stiff penalties for bloggers, journalists, and lawyers who defend them; 29. Stresses that in a country with more than 500 million internet users, digital freedoms are the only way to achieve a flourishing and developed cyberspace; calls on the Chinese authorities both to secure and to protect the huge cybersphere developed in their country and to target their efforts towards its enhancement and not towards censorship and control; 30. Takes note of the significant efforts made by the Chinese Government to develop Tibet and Xinjiang economically, and of the impact of those efforts on nomad communities and traditional livelihoods; urges the Chinese Government to act in a politically responsible way by meaningfully engaging the Tibetan and Uighur peoples in governance issues, including resource management and economic development priorities, and respecting rather than diluting cultural elements such as language and religion; strongly asserts that the Chinese Government will not achieve lasting stability in Tibet or Xinjiang or comity among the Chinese, Tibetan and Uighur peoples through forcible assimilation, cultural destruction or repressive police and security methods, but only by seriously addressing all indigenous complaints in order to create genuinely shared responsibility for the well-being of both autonomous provinces; urges the Chinese Government to put an end to the ban on independent observers visiting these regions; 31. Stresses that, notwithstanding a harsh policy of repression, a religious revival is taking place in China which is demonstrated by the reopening or reconstruction of countless places of worship; urges the Chinese authorities to pull back on policies and practices that curtail any citizen’s fundamental right to freedom of religion and belief;