Short memory: France ’s President Sarkozy breaks election promise on China visit

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) accused the European Union on Monday with not speaking with one voice in China politics. The international human rights organisation described the foreign politics of France as extremely unpredictable, for the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has at the beginning of his China visit on Sunday made a sharp U-turn. While Sarkozy spoke out during the presidential election campaign for the maintenance of the EU arms embargo he now shortly before setting out for Peking stated that France would during his EU presidency work for an end to the sanctions.

China has for years been trying to get the embargo lifted. In an article for the newspaper "Le Monde” in 19th April 2007 Sarkozy had made this dependent on an improvement of the human rights situation. A similar position is held by Angela Merkel. The sanctions were imposed by the EU in 1989 following the massacre on the Square of Heavenly Peace in Peking.

"With his ‘lapse of memory’ Sarkozy is frittering away his credibility in foreign politics, seeing that in the Darfur question his grandiose statements were followed by no action at all”, criticised the GfbV Asia expert, Ulrich Delius. "With his opportunist performance in Peking and his scouting out Chinese orders for French products he makes it clear once again that there is no united foreign politics in the EU carried by values.” Since the human rights situation in China has not improved since Sarkozy’s speech in April there is no justification for his sudden change of opinion.

In November 2007 four Uigurs have been sentenced to death for political reasons and two to life-long imprisonment. Religious persecution is also continuing: the Catholic bishop Jia Zhigua (Diocese Zheng Ding, Hebei Province ) has been arrested twice – on 5th June and 23rd August 2007. Three Catholic priests were arrested on 24th July in Ximeng ( Inner Mongolia ).

The persecution of Falun Gong supporters has also been increased in recent weeks.