WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2606/97 by Johanna MAIJ-WEGGEN to the Commission. Ill-treatment of Chinese dissident Wei Jinsheng
Date: 1997-09-01
Institutions: European Parliament, MAIJ-WEGGEN
Subjects: China, EU Member State, human rights, national law, opposition, political asylum, political prisoner, prison system, right of asylum, the EU's international role

C 102/70

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

3. 4. 98

(98/C 102/103)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2606/97

by Johanna Maij-Weggen (PPE) to the Commission

(1 September 1997)

Subject: Ill-treatment of Chinese dissident Wei Jinsheng

Is  the  Commission  aware  that  Chinese  dissident  Wei  Jinsheng,  who  is  serving  out  a  14-year  prison  term  in
Tangshan prison (Hebei province) for his outspoken opinions on matters relating to political and human rights in
China, was beaten and ill-treated by fellow prisoners on various occasions in June this year?

Is the Commission aware that this ill-treatment took place under the very noses of the prison warders, who, far
from affording Wei Jinsheng protection, had the temerity to subject him to additional punishment for alleged
incitement to violence?

Is the Commission prepared to ask the Chinese government for clarification of the manner in which Mr Wei
Jinsheng is being treated by the Chinese authorities?

Can the Commission state which EU Member States are at present granting asylum to Chinese refugees who are
being persecuted for their political and human rights activities?

Answer given by Sir Leon Brittan on behalf of the Commission

(16 September 1997)

The situation of human rights in China is an issue of great concern for the Commission, which is fully committed
to the improvement of the situation.

The  Union  has  already  expressed  its  concern  to  the  Chinese  authorities  about  the  particular  case  of
Mr Wei Jinsheng, as well as about the situation of all political prisoners in China.

Prison conditions were also one of the issues raised by the tro(cid:14)¤ka in the context of the Union(cid:146)s human rights
dialogue with China, under which two meetings were held in January 1995 in Brussels and in January 1996 in
Beijing. The Chinese authorities have suspended this specific bilateral dialogue after the joint tabling of a Union
resolution on the situation of human rights in China at the April 1996 session of the United Nations human rights
commission. The Union is firmly committed to resume this dialogue as soon as possible.

Political asylum is being granted by Member States according to their own policy in this field.

(98/C 102/104)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2608/97

by Florus Wijsenbeek (ELDR) to the Commission

(1 September 1997)

Subject: Transition periods for authorized dimensions for road-haulage vehicles

Is the Commission aware that whereas Community rules on dimensions and weights for road haulage vehicles
will  enter  into  force  on  1  January  2007  in  accordance  with  Directive  96/53/EC (1),  the  transition  periods  for
introducing these compulsory European dimensions for road haulage vehicles by that date could well vary in
different EU Member States, since each Member State is effectively free to fix its own deadline for the transition?

Is the Commission further aware that such discrepancies in deadlines could well cause serious problems for road
transport undertakings › which provide extensive cross-border services › in that the different Member States
might well require such undertakings to comply with rules in force on the basis of the transition arrangements
applicable in a given Member State at any one time?

That  being  so,  situations  might  well  arise  where  road  transport  undertakings  were  required  to  comply
simultaneously with conflicting specifications for vehicle dimensions in different Member States, which would
in turn distort competition as between road transport undertakings.