death penalty; strongly condemns the execution of the two Tibetans, Lobsang Gyaltsen and Loyak, and of the nine persons of Uighur ethnicity following, respectively, the events in March 2008 in Lhasa and the riots of 5-7 July 2009 in Urumqi; calls on the Chinese authorities to suspend all the other death sentences passed by the Intermediate People's Courts of Lhasa and Urumqi and to commute those sentences, in the case of persons duly found guilty of acts of violence, to terms of imprisonment; condemns, too, the death sentences with two years' suspension imposed on Tenzin Phuntsok and Kangtsuk, following the March protests, and the imprisonment for life of Dawa Sangpo, and underlines its concern as to whether they received a fair trial; 4. Calls once again on China to ratify the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; deplores the often discriminatory treatment of ethnic and religious minorities in China; 5. Highlights the fact that the Chinese Government published its first National Human Rights Action Plan (2009-2010) in April 2009, aiming in particular to improve the protection of citizens’ rights throughout the law-enforcement and judicial processes, eliminate arbitrary detention, prohibit the extortion of confessions by torture and ensure fair and open trials; calls on the Chinese authorities to make public the number of executions carried out; 6. Calls on the Chinese authorities to make every effort to develop a genuine Han-Uighur dialogue, to adopt more inclusive and comprehensive economic policies in Xinjiang aimed at strengthening local ownership, and to protect the cultural identity of the Uighur population; 7. Stresses that China's human rights record remains a matter of serious concern; insists on the need for rigorous follow-up between all rounds of the EU-China human rights dialogue, with a view to ensuring the application of the recommendations resulting from previous dialogues, which were mutually agreed by both parties, and in the form of the EU-China legal seminars on human rights which used to precede the rounds of the dialogue and which involved academic and civil-society representatives; calls on the Council and the Commission to put the questions of abolition of the death penalty and observance of ethnic minorities' and religious rights on the agenda for the 12th EU-China Summit on 30 November 2009, and to continue to pursue inclusion in the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, currently in negotiation, of a clause concerning respect for human rights in China; 8. Calls on the Chinese authorities to end immediately the ‘Strike Hard’ campaign, under which the rights of the people in XUAR are being repressed, while the causes of unrest are being ignored; 9. Calls for the reopening of sincere and results-orientated dialogue between the Chinese Government and the Dalai Lama's representatives, based on the 'Memorandum on Genuine Autonomy for the Tibetan People' and leading towards a positive, substantial and meaningful change in Tibet consistent with the principles outlined in the Constitution and laws of the People's Republic of China; 10. Reiterates its solidarity with all the victims of the events in Urumqi, XUAR, in July 2009, while recognising the duty of the State institutions to maintain public order; is concerned at reports alleging that disproportionate force was used against ethnic Uighurs and that large numbers of them were detained;