VZCZCXRO1468
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHAT RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW
RUEHLA RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSR RUEHTRO
RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHBS #0783/01 1561105
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 051105Z JUN 09
FM USEU BRUSSELS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRUSSELS 000783 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/ERA; DRL/MLGA; EAP/CM; IO/RHS; S/GC; EUR/PGI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM KDRG EUN CZ CH
SUBJECT: CHINA/EU: HUMAN RIGHTS DIALOGUE IS PRODUCTIVE, 
WITH GOOD ATMOSPHERE 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary:  The EU troika held its annual EU-China 
Human Rights Dialogue on May 14 in Prague.  EU participants 
found the atmosphere to be more positive and productive on 
most issues than at the last dialogue in December 2008 in 
Beijing. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The EU held legal seminars in Prague two days 
before the main dialogue meeting.  These sessions, which 
European and (officially approved) Chinese NGOs attended, 
focused on the right to health, and access to justice. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The dialogue itself lasted 6-7 hours and took place 
in Prague.  China warned the EU of unspecified serious 
consequences if any EU Member State resettled Uighurs from 
Guantanamo Bay.  China declined to hear an EU pitch for it to 
sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture 
(OPCAT), but later, during a field trip, an enterprising 
Czech official hijacked the public address system on a 
chartered bus to deliver his OPCAT pitch to a then captive 
Chinese audience.  China said that it would soon revise its 
State Secrets Law to define what constitutes a state secret. 
China also said that it would invite the UN High Commissioner 
for Human Rights (UNHCHR) and the UN Rapporteur on Economic, 
Social, and Cultural Rights to visit.  China said it did not 
support the opening of a new office for the UNHCHR in 
Beijing.  End Summary. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) INDIVIDUAL CASES (PRISONER) LISTS.  The EU 
expressed frustration with the lack of Chinese response to 
the previous list passed in December 2008.  The Chinese said 
that they did not respond because of the "bad atmosphere" 
surrounding the cancellation of the EU-China summit, but 
promised to respond to the EU's latest submission.  The EU 
submitted approximately 85 names, which were made up of the 
previous list plus a few additions.  The EU has not received 
any response from China yet. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) REVIEW OF DEATH PENALTY CASES.  China sent a judge 
from the Supreme People's Court to talk about the death 
penalty in China.  He said that the central government is 
attempting to reduce the number of death penalties handed 
down by Chinese courts.  Chinese authorities are offering 
training to local judges, mandating reduced sentences for 
certain categories of crimes, requiring three judge panels to 
meet in person and rule unanimously on death penalty 
sentences, and are attempting to strengthen evidentiary 
standards for death penalty cases.  The judge asserted that 
death penalty cases are down this year over last year, but 
offered no specific figures. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) THE FIGHT AGAINST TORTURE.  The Chinese said that 
this was a top priority of their Human Rights National Action 
Plan.  They acknowledged that torture does take place in 
China, even though the central government has issued clear 
guidelines on the treatment of prisoners.  The Chinese human 
rights authorities reportedly hap?slkzQto a Czech prison facility.  The Czech official 
responsible for OPCAT, previously rebuffed by the Chinese 
side in formal talks, apparently used a microphone on the bus 
to give his OPCAT pitch to a captive Chinese audience. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) CHINESE HUMAN RIGHTS NATIONAL ACTION PLAN.  China 
was eager for comments from the EU on its Human Rights 
National Action Plan.  The EU told China that, among other 
problems, there was no provision for political rights, but 
said the plan was a good start.  China remarked that many 
countries, including many in the EU, did not yet have an 
action plan.  China revealed that the State Secrets Law is 
being revised and should be ready soon.  Chinese officials 
 
BRUSSELS 00000783  002 OF 003 
 
 
said that the law would finally define what constitutes a 
state secret. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) RIGHT TO HEALTHCARE.  The EU received superficial 
replies from Chinese officials, who seemed genuinely puzzled 
about why this was being discussed in a human rights context. 
 China sent an official from the Health Ministry who was 
unprepared to speak to the human rights aspects of 
healthcare.  The EU specifically raised mental health and the 
one child policy.  China said they were open to cooperation 
on these issues.  The EU took this to be a generic answer, 
versus a genuine interest in working on health as a human 
rights problem. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS.  China dismissed the 
concept of "human rights defenders," contending that the EU's 
Human Rights Defenders appeared to be nothing more than 
criminals who had broken the law. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.  The EU pressed China to 
show more respect for petitioners, raising the case of the 
earthquake victims' families who recently petitioned.  The 
Chinese side claimed that petitions were not a major issue, 
and that most petitions were fQed with fake signatures 
anyway. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) INTERNET CONTROLS.  China gave an expected answer, 
saying that the Chinese people supported the government's 
controls and that they were necessary to preserve order. 
Chinese officials offered online "strip poker" as an example 
of the kinds of websites that can be "very dangerous to 
mental health," and said they were justifiably banned. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) CHARTER 08.  China said this group was not an 
issue, and maintained that its petition was not real.  The EU 
asked why members of the group were jailed if it was not an 
issue.  China responded that the group's conduct was against 
Chinese law. 
 
¶14.  (SBU) TIBET.  China pledged to improve access for 
foreign journalists and diplomats "soon," and characterized 
the current lack of access as mainly a logistical problem 
(e.g. lack of hotels, infrastructure).  China was not willing 
to discuss Tibet in a human rights context.  The EU was 
encouraged that the lead Chinese official conceded that 
"there are absolutely human rights issues in Tibet," but 
frustrated that he continued by saying that current problems 
in Tibet can be traced to criminals, not to human rights 
problems. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) GUANTANAMO DETAINEE RESETTLEMENT.  China warned EU 
Member States not to accept Chinese Uighurs, and promised 
unspecified heavy consequences for the EU should any be 
resettled in the European Union.  China said it was aware of 
discussions involving Germany and Sweden as possible 
destinations. China said the Muslim Uighurs constituted a 
security threat to the EU, and said that UNSCR 1373 required 
UN Member States not to provide safe haven for terrorists. 
China urged the EU to press for the Uighurs to be returned to 
China, where they could be properly tried for Qir crimes. 
The EU told China that the resettlement of individual 
detainees is a state-by-state decision, and that the EU was 
not involved.  China was invited to take up its concerns 
bilaterally with relevant Member States.  The EU said that 
even if it were involved in individual resettlement cases, it 
could not support the transfer of any detainee to a country 
that might employ the death penalty against them. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) DECLARATION ON SEXUAL ORIENTATION.  The EU asked 
China to consider signing this declaration.  China responded 
that it was supportive, but claimed the declaration could 
"offend Chinese Muslims." 
 
¶17.  (SBU) COMPLAINTS ABOUT EU CUSTOMS AND IMMIGRATION 
OFFICIALS.  China complained of racist behavior on the part 
of EU customs and immigration officials at EU airports. 
China raised the case of a Chinese woman arriving in France. 
The EU offered to look into any specific cases, but has not 
 
BRUSSELS 00000783  003 OF 003 
 
 
yet received a response from French authorities. 
 
¶18.  (SBU) UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL.  China said it wanted to 
cooperate more with the EU in the Human Rights Council.  It 
said it had ideas on how the EU could work better with the 
Africa Group and was willing to help lobby the Africa Group 
on specific issues.  China welcomed the United States back to 
the Human Rights Council and was pleased that the U.S. won a 
seat.  China said it intended to invite the UN Rapporteur on 
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights and the High 
Commissioner for Human Rights to visit China this year. 
China said it did not support the opening of an office of the 
UN High CommisQner for Human Rights in Beijing. 
 
DAVIS 
.