On the recent protests and human rights situation in China

Urgency Motion passed at The Council of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) Party convening in Bratislava, Slovakia, on 2-3 December 2022:

Notes that:
• in late November 2022, thousands of people joined protests in cities
across China, in an unprecedented challenge to leader Xi Jinping's
zero-Covid policy;
• the Chinese authorities moved quickly to suppress demonstrations,
deploying police forces at key protest sites and tightening online
censorship;
• since the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen
Square, the Communist Party leadership has consistently jailed political
dissidents, especially those who argued publicly for democratic
change;
• under Xi Jinping, the regime has rapidly expanded the scope of its
repression, engulfing a numbing procession of lawyers, journalists,
bloggers, women's advocates, minority rights campaigners, and
religious believers who have been detained, placed under house arrest,
disappeared, or formally sentenced to prison;
• the visit on 1st December of European Council President Charles
Michel to Beijing to have a substantial meeting with President Xi to deal
with the challenges in EU-China relations.
Calls on the European Parliament, the European Commission, the
European Council and EU Member States to:
• Urge the Chinese authorities to rethink China's zero-COVID policy,
which is leading to great hardship for its people and significant damage
to the Chinese economy, and engage in dialogue with the protestors.
• If repression continues, put into force stronger economic pressure on
those responsible for the repression;
• continue to strongly condemn the persecution of political dissidents and
give further support to Chinese opposition politicians - both in exile and
within China - in their fight for human rights and democracy.

Reported by Merlene Emerson, member of Libdems delegation (Pic from left :Joyce Onstad and Merlene).