From: hrcoord@igc.apc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Subject: GERMANY: Ties with China 'normalise
Date: 15 Nov 92 19:23:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700804:000:5222
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Nov 15 11:23:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: GERMANY: Ties with China 'normalise

/* Written 12:11 am  Nov 14, 1992 by newsdesk@igc.apc.org in
igc:ips.englibrary */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all
rights reserved.  Permission to re- print within 7 days of
original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: GERMANY: Ties with China 'normalised' -- what about human
rights?

an inter press service feature

by ramesh jaura

bonn, nov 11 (ips) -- while german businessmen are eager to cash
in on the normalisation of ties with china, human rights advocates
are up in arms over what is seen as a ''sell-out''.

''there is no doubt that we have to maintain a dialogue with
china...but it should be made clear that political reforms must go
hand in hand with economic reforms,'' says rudolf bindig,
opposition social democratic party's spokesperson in parliament
for human rights.

the normalisation of relations was made known during an official
visit to china by german foreign minister klaus kinkel on nov 1
and 2 when he proclaimed: ''our relations are normal again.''

the visit came nearly four months after the german federal
parliament (bundestag) suspended partial economic sanctions
against beijing -- imposed in october 1990 after the massacre of
pro-democracy demonstrators in tiananmen square in june 1989.

partial sanctions -- like restrictions on sino-german economic
cooperation -- were suspended until december 31, 1992. so that on
jun 24, the bundestag gave china a controversial subsidised credit
of about 385 million dollars to purchase three container ships
from recession-hit shipyards in eastern germany.

opponents to the ''business as usual'' approach point to the
continued violation of human rights in china and in beijing-ruled
tibet; while proponents argue that the ongoing economic
liberalisation in the world's largest populated country needs
backing in order to be successful.

german businesses now hope to take advantage of these improved
commercial and economic relations, and an up trend in both german
exports to, and investments in china, has been predicted by a
study conducted recently by the cologne-based german agency for
financing investments (deg).

the deg describes china as ''an interesting but still a difficult
land for investments''.

germany is in fact a major economic partner of china in europe
although it was the only leading industrial state among the 24-
nations strong organisation for economic cooperation and
development (oecd) that had maintained partial sanctions against
beijing for human rights violations.(more/ips)

germany: ties with china 'normalised' -- what about human
rights?(2-e)

germany: ties (2)

according to official german statistics, the 12-nation european
community (ec) accounts for nine percent chinese exports and 13 to
15 percent of beijing's imports.

german imports from china went up by 42.9 percent -- from a value
of about 5.2 billion dollars in 1990 -- to 7.4 billion dollars
last year. german exports to china declined by 3.7 percent from a
value of about 2.7 billion dollars in 1990 to 2.6 billion dollars
last year, according to the german federal statistical office in
wiesbaden.

''the chinese have promised to help correct this imbalance that is
much to the detriment of germany,'' rolf huesch, an economics
ministry official told ips.

in the meanwhile kinkel has come in for sharp criticism since his
return from china. ''what kinkel is doing is a sell-out of
universal human rights,'' says bindig.

he adds: ''we cannot free china from the obligation of observing
human rights as a pre-condition for economic cooperation just
because it is a country with economic and political weight, but
continue to apply that conditionality to smaller states such as
haiti, malawi and burma.''

chair of the parliamentary committee for economic cooperation, uwe
holtz wonders whether kinkel fell prey to ''some rather clever
businesspersons in beijing and bargained his conscience for
business''.

in so doing, adds holtz, kinkel has eaten the very words he
delivered at the united nations general assembly sep 23: ''the
protection of human rights remains a central issue for german
foreign policy.''

going by what the foreign minister has said, that maxim does not
apply to china, holtz argued in a recent interview.

klaus natorp of the daily 'frankfurter allgemeine zeitung'
newspaper also wrote: ''a big country like china cannot be ignored
or isolated. but to say that relations are normal now (while human
rights violations continue) is to absolve the beijing leadership
(of all its misdeeds).''

but kinkel says the criticism is not justified. ''i did not mince
any words about our great anxiety about a rather grave human
rights situation in china, and my interlocutors in beijing know
what straight-talking i did,'' kinkel told foreign correspondents
last week in bonn.

asked whether he was taking in all the bashing in the hope that he
will be exonerated when the chinese fulfil the commitments that
they might have made to him, kinkel told ips that beijing had
promised nothing. ''but i have no doubt that diplomacy will
succeed where all the loud-taking has failed until now.''
(end/ips/ip/raj/cpg/92)