20. Takes note of the decision of Hong Kong’s Chief Executive not to force the implementation
of a controversial ‘national education’ curriculum following mass demonstrations and
widespread opposition; calls on the Beijing authorities fully to respect the ‘one country-two
systems’ principle in compliance with the agreement signed before the handover of the
former British colony to the PRC; welcomes the high turnout in the recent Legislative
Council elections and expects universal suffrage to be introduced for the election of all the
members of this assembly as soon as possible;
Human rights and democracy
21. Admires and supports the courage and activism of those Chinese citizens acting in socially
responsible ways to promote and defend universally recognised social and human rights,
and to challenge and correct well-known social dangers and/or criminal acts such as
corruption, abuses of office, environmental damage, AIDS infection, food poisoning,
construction fraud in relation to schools, and illegal land and property expropriation, often
committed by local party authorities; denounces all instances of official retaliation against
these Chinese citizens; urges the Chinese leadership to encourage civil responsibility in
terms of observing social human rights and to rehabilitate officially persecuted and
punished defenders of these rights; reminds the Chinese leadership to comply strictly with
domestic and international human rights law;
22. Strongly endorses the critical comments of Chinese lawyers and jurists that the humiliating
detainment of suspects for more than 15 days conflicts with the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which China signed in October 1998; expresses its
concern at the unwillingness of the Chinese Government to ratify the ICCPR, a situation
which is still pending; deplores the fact that under the new Criminal Procedures Law of
2013 police and state security authorities can even detain a suspect for more than 14 months
without any assistance from a lawyer; fully supports the criticism of Chinese jurists that the
police retain the option not only of keeping suspects under house arrest, but also of
detaining them under the rules on ‘arrest at a determined place’; backs all initiatives by
Chinese jurists with a view to real reform of the PRC’s Criminal Procedures Law;
23. Calls on China to comply with minimum social standards; underlines the importance of
compliance with, and rapid implementation of, all International Labour Organisation rules,
including the right freely to form independent trade unions; welcomes the implementation
of the labour contract law and calls for the legislative framework to be supplemented by the
adoption of a law on collective bargaining; urges both the Chinese authorities and European
investors and companies operating in China to observe international labour standards and to
guarantee decent pay and working conditions and respect for human rights in China; takes
the view that the EU should not allow market access for goods which have been produced
by means of child labour or in facilities which gravely violate international labour standards
and human rights, such as prison camps;
24. Takes the view that the trade imbalances between the EU and China reflect their differing
social, economic and democratic models; takes the view that the limited or non-existent
degree of respect for certain rights in China is a contributing factor; stresses the importance
of identifying a strategy for dialogue with China, starting with labour market issues;
25. Fears that the number of prisoners being executed under China‘s death penalty legislation,
as well as the expediency of their trials and subsequent executions, goes against the spirit of
the human right to a free and fair trial, in that the speed used by Chinese authorities means