WRITTEN QUESTION P-1138/96 by Guido Podestà (UPE) to the Commission (3 May 1996)

Subject: Orphanages in China

With reference to the Commission's answer to my written question on children's camps in China, particularly for girls, who are less wanted by the majority of Chinese parents, on economic grounds and because of social conventions (see OJ EC C 340, 18.12.1995); given the blood-curdling picture that emerged from the film on Chinese orphanages, Return to the Dying Rooms, made in January 1996, broadcast by the British TV network Channel Four and shown again to MEPs in Strasbourg on 18 January 1996 on the initiative of the Honourable Member, Mr Howitt, and given also the accusations made against the Chinese Government by the American humanitarian organization Human Rights Watch Asia in its 330-page report dated 7 January 1996 and entitled Death by Default: A Policy of Fatal Neglect in China's State Orphanages, which was based on documents gathered between 1986 and 1992 by Dr Zhang Shuyun who stole them before fleeing to America; and, following Parliament's adoption in Strasbourg on 27 March 1996 of its resolution on the 52nd session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, does the Commission intend to gather additional, detailed information on these serious problems and, in particular, more specific details of the use made of the funds granted to NGOs working with the Chinese authorities to improve the living conditions of large numbers of orphans?

Does it intend, alongside the United Nations, to seek permission from the Chinese Government to inspect the orphanages in which the most serious abuses have been reported?

How does it intend to reconcile the need to boost and sustain trade between the European Union and China with the overriding need to safeguard the fundamental right to life of every human being, the principle of equal opportunities for men and women and the principle of protecting children, which are continually reaffirmed by the European Union, particularly the European Parliament?

Answer given by Sir Leon Brittan on behalf of the Commission (22 May 1996)

The situation obtaining in Chinese orphanages is a subject of concern to the Commission and it has, as such, been broached in the course of the regular dialogue with China concerning human rights and, in particular, during the meeting held in Beijing on 22, 23 and 24 January of this year. Concurrently with that meeting, the representatives of the European Union had the opportunity of visiting the premises of an orphanage capable of accommodating roughly 400 children in the conurbation of Beijing. More recently, the European Union raised this matter during the proceedings of the 52nd session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

According to the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working on the spot, the situation that obtains in the orphanages does not appear to stem from a deliberate policy on the part of the Chinese central government, but rather from serious deficiencies, especially in terms of infrastructure and human resources responsible for management. For that reason, the Commission is currently considering, in conjunction with the said NGOs, the initiatives that could be set in train to mitigate the said deficiencies.

In this regard, the Commission has been providing financial support for a project relating to an orphanage in Anhui province since 1995. It regards the fact that the Chinese authorities have expressed interest in its proposals for the further development of other cooperation programmes as a positive sign.

As regards the general issue of human rights and the further development of trade, while the Commission attaches great importance to the continuation of measures that relate specifically to human rights, it also believes that support for the reforms that are currently being set in train to accompany the transition to a market economy is making a substantial contribution to the emergence of a civil society based on the rule of law.