No pussy-footing! – What we need is a clear call for human rights!

The Society for Threatened Peoples STP (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker GfbV) has called on Foreign Minister, Guido Westerwelle to speak up clearly on his visit to China for an end to the arbitrary persecution of Uighurs and Tibetans. "It is not pussy-footing we need, but a clear

position on human rights”, said the STP Asia consultant, Ulrich Delius, on Wednesday. "Westerwelle must put human rights before commercial interests.” Germany does not need a second minister of commerce like Rainer Brüderle, who on his visit to Peking in December 2009 basically ignored human rights. Westerwelle will be accompanied on his visit to China on Friday and Saturday by a business delegation.

"From the Foreign Minister we expect clear words in matters of internet freedom and basic human and civil rights in China”, said Delius. It is also a German problem if German citizens are arbitrarily restricted in their freedom of movement by Peking as in September 2009.” The German citizen and Uighur human rights activist Dolkun Isa was prevented from going to South Korea by the Chinese authorities. Other Uighur human rights activists with German passports have also been hampered in their freedom of movement. "We expect clear words from the Minister in this matter”, said the STP consultant with emphasis.

Westerwelle himself set up the yardstick with his words on the human rights position in China . On 15th December 2004 he accused the then Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer in a speech in Parliament with a lack of consistency in matters of human rights in China. Westerwelle reminded the Minister that he had solemnly declared as leader of the opposition in 1996: "Human rights must not be sacrificed to business relations”. "That’s the way the Free Democrats see it”, said Westerwelle at the time and added: "The matter of human rights is for us not something to be bought and sold. Human rights are binding for everyone in the world.” He specifically reminded Foreign Minister Fischer of what Heinrich Böll had said: "There is a duty to intervene in the domestic affairs of human rights.”

Five years later these quotations of Westerwelle are still up to date, said Delius. "Since he took up office as Foreign Minister however we have hardly heard anything of a critical nature on China .” The Minister kowtowed when he encouraged the Chinese government after the sentence on the dissident Liu Xiaobo on 25th December 2009 "to make sure that human rights are respected”.