Newsticker April 9, 2002: Critique during Zemin Visit

(Original text in German)

Several human rights organizations took the opportunity to sharply criticize the German government's China policies during Jiang Zemin's visit here. "Instead of relying solely on dialogue, we urge Chancellor Schroeder (SPD) to openly voice criticism about the situation in China," demanded Mr. Dirk Pleiter, China-expert at Amnesty International. Berlin's inner city was the scene of a demonstration by several hundred Falun Gong activists who pleaded for the group's free association in China where the movement is banned.

Mr. Pleiter accused the German government of "soft-peddling." He pointed out that the human rights situation in China had deteriorated and become visibly worse during the past year and that more and more death sentences had been handed down. He also noted, though, "the movement had gained strength and numbers. During 2001, around 200 Falun Gong followers died as a result of abuse from torture," the expert said. Muslim minorities have not been exempt from persecution, especially following the terrorist attacks of last September 11th. Mr. Pleiter openly demanded "political pressure" on the part of the German government, and declared further that human rights transgression must not be exclusively discussed behind closed doors.

Green Party (member of Germany's ruling coalition) chairperson Ms. Claudia Roth disagreed with Amnesty International, saying that, "silence has been overcome," but "dramatic problems" in China must be discussed again and again. We have "long lists" [of subjects] that need to be addressed during Jiang Zemin's state visit. She expects the same actions from among the representatives of commerce and industry who will meet with the Chinese president during the next few days.

According to statistics from a Falun Gong spokesperson in Germany, in March alone, 5,000 practitioners were arrested just in Northeast China. The Falun Gong movement, which counts 70 million followers in China, was banned in July 1999 [...]. Since then, according to Falun Gong, tens of thousand of practitioners have been arrested and several hundred have been executed. [...] Various sources assured us that Falun Gong has no political motives.

Jiang Zemin arrived in Germany for a six-day state visit. At the heart of the visit, at the 30th anniversary of the establishing of diplomatic relations between the two countries, are mutual trade agreement talks as well as dialogues regarding strategies to fight international terrorism. Jiang, besides meeting with Chancellor Schroeder, is also planning to meet with Germany's President Rau and leading opposition Party candidates and politicians.

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