European Union ignores victims of the Chinese economic boom

Today on the occasion of the 8th European-Chinese Summit Meeting the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) has accused the European Union of making a taboo of severe breaches of human rights and ignoring the dark side of the Chinese economic boom. The EU is accused of taking an interest solely in the extension of economic relations while more than twelve million Uigurs and Tibetans are suffering under the consequences of the economic boom in the industrial zones on the east coast of China. In their areas the repression from Peking is constantly increasing in order to maximize without disturbance the exploitation of resources such as mineral oil, natural gas, wood, water and minerals for the boom regions.

It would seem that the EU representatives are not interested in the fate of 300.000 forced workers, although the labour camps provide cheap labour for many branches working for export. This is also a reason for the fact that Chinese products cannot be outbid in Europe. The use of forced labour does not only distort the terms of competition, but is also an unacceptable violation of basic human rights.

China’s hunger for energy does not only make the price of oil rise steadily, but it also has serious consequences for the people in the mining areas. Every time a new pipeline is laid or a new refinery is installed the strategic significance of the autonomous region of Xinjiang and Tibet rises for the Chinese government. Accordingly it increases the suppression of the indigenous people to prevent all criticism of the Chinese leadership. Apart from this, in the oil industry it is practically only Han Chinese who are employed.

In Xinjiang in the three mining areas Tarim, Junggar and Turpan-Hami some 21 thousand million tons of oil reserves and 10.85 billion cubic metres of natural gas have been registered. This means 25.5% of the oil and 27.9% of the natural gas reserves of China. The autonomous area is today one of the most important suppliers of energy to Chinese heavy industry. 22.6 million tons of crude oil were supplied in the year 2004. By the year 2010 the oil production in Xinjiang is to be more than doubled. China has announced the construction of new pipelines just a few months after the installation of a pipeline more than 4000 kilometres long, with which natural gas is transported from Xinjiang to the eastern seaboard.