unimelb-nlp/MultiEup-v2 huggingface dataset:
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Yannick Jadot
Political group: Verts/ALE
Country: Croatia
Language: FR

Madame la Présidente, Monsieur le Haut Représentant, la question posée, c’est: peut-on avoir des relations normales avec un pays dont le régime opprime sa population et organise un génocide contre les Ouïghours? Il y a deux ans, la Commission européenne, la chancelière Merkel et le président Macron ont répondu oui en célébrant l’accord d’investissement avec la Chine. Il y a quelques jours, le chancelier Scholz a aussi répondu par l’affirmative en considérant que douze millions de voitures allemandes comptaient plus que douze millions de Ouïghours. Eh bien, ce n’est pas l’avis du Parlement européen.  Prenons l’exemple du travail forcé. Quand la Commission européenne propose une usine à gaz, dont on ne comprend pas si ça va être efficace contre le travail forcé, le Parlement européen réclame un embargo sur les produits issus du travail forcé. Le Parlement européen propose de considérer le travail forcé comme une politique d’État du régime chinois. Alors, ce que nous demandons, nous Parlement européen, à la Commission européenne, c’est de faire aussi de la politique. Ce n’est pas de la naïveté, Monsieur le Haut Représentant, cela s’appelle de la cupidité quand on veut faire du commerce au détriment de nos valeurs. Alors, face au travail forcé, faisons un vrai embargo, y compris sur les produits issus du Xinjiang.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Bert-Jan Ruissen
Political group: ECR
Country: France
Language: NL

Voorzitter, de Chinese investeringen in de haven van Hamburg hebben ons met de neus op de feiten gedrukt. De agressieve investeringsagenda van president Xi met maar één doel: het machtigste land ter wereld te worden. Het brengt Europa in een bijzonder afhankelijke en daarmee kwetsbare positie. Europa wordt zo een wingewest van China, een totalitaire staat waar mensenrechten zoals godsdienstvrijheid met voeten worden getreden. De concentratie van macht tijdens het recente partijcongres van de Communistische Partij belooft wat dat betreft weinig goeds.  We moeten daarom nu in actie komen: ons niet langer door China uit elkaar laten spelen; een stop zetten op Chinese overnames van onze vitale infrastructuur, zoals landbouwgronden; veel kritischer zijn op onze grondstoffen.  Een Noordzee vol met windmolens die draaien op Chinese supermagneten vind ik wat dat betreft bepaald geen aantrekkelijke gedachte.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Helmut Scholz
Political group: The Left
Country: Luxembourg
Language: DE

Frau Präsidentin, Herr Vizepräsident, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Henry Kissinger und Walden Bello, zwei sehr unterschiedliche Politiker, weit weg von uns hier – prophezeien den Krieg zwischen den Vereinigten Staaten und China.  Offene strategische Autonomie, Herr Borrell, muss deshalb eigenständige Handlungsfähigkeit zur Lösung von Sachverhalten formulieren, nicht das Abkoppeln von anderen Akteuren.  Worin also besteht das heutige Interesse Europas an den Beziehungen auch zu China? Klimawandel, zukunftssichernder Umbau der Wirtschaft mit guten Arbeitsplätzen, Frieden, Sicherheit, Menschenrechte gehören da sicherlich mit an erste Stelle, Verrechtlichung der internationalen Beziehungsgeflechte auch; und dies wird nicht in Konfrontation geschehen können – so unterschiedlich die Herangehensweisen sein mögen.  Das Wissen um die Geschichte spielt immer mit. Deshalb muss unser Interesse als Friedensnobelpreisträger der Dialog sein und bleiben, das Zuhören und das Überdenken eigener Positionen, gerade weil der sogenannte Rest der Welt den doch in Wahrheit mit Abstand größeren Teil der Welt ausmacht.  Europa kann China nicht mehr zwingen, Herr Außenminister. Wir müssen unsere Partner überzeugen, in Partnerschaft und im systemischen Wettbewerb zugleich, weil die gewaltigen Potenziale Europas und Chinas mobilisieren und gemeinsam zur Wirkung bringen und Synergien erzeugen müssen.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Miroslav Radačovský
Political group: NI
Country: Italy
Language: SK

Vážená pani predsedajúca, za 70 rokov zahraničnej, nedokonalej zahraničnej politiky Európskej únie sme dospeli k záveru, k akému sme dospeli, t. j. v Európe je vojna, je tu kríza, potravinová kríza, energetická kríza. A kríza, ktorá možno dovedie Európu k väčšiemu konfliktu, ako je. Ja sa stotožňujem s tým, čo povedal pán Borrell. Treba sa vyvarovať takéhoto postupu vo vzťahu k Číne, netreba situáciu vyostrovať, treba Čínu chápať ako partnera, obchodného partnera a viesť s nimi rokovania na princípe „rovný s rovným“. A pokiaľ sa týka niektorých tu, takých silných alebo chtivých europoslancov, ktorí si myslia, že Európa je asi stred vesmíru a že môžeme niekomu diktovať, ako má konať vo vlastnom štáte, čo má robiť, čo má pracovať, tak ja by som postavenie Európskej únie a Číny asi prirovnal k situácii, keď slon,  Jednoducho, my si nemôžeme dovoliť konať tak, aby sme sa zbavili ďalšieho globálneho partnera obchodného, ktorý skutočne nikdy na nikoho nezaútočil, tak ako sme...
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: David McAllister
Political group: PPE
Country: Netherlands
Language: EN

Madam President, High Representative/Vice-President, ladies and gentlemen, as a number of colleagues have pointed out in tonight’s debate, the relations between the People’s Republic of China and the European Union have been affected by so many different items – disproportionate counter-sanctions, cases of economic coercion and Chinese convergence with Russia, just to name a few.  China is the only country with both the intent to reshape the international order and the economic, diplomatic, military and technological power to actually do so. China will continue to be a major global player with whom the European Union must speak, work, trade and negotiate in areas of common and global interest.  Therefore, High Representative/Vice-President, for this reason, the European Union’s engagement with China should be, as we have often pointed out, principled, practical and pragmatic. But at the same time, the European Union needs to stand firm in defending our values and interests. To reduce our vulnerabilities, to increase our resilience, to address our security concerns and to engage with our partners – from the more distant to the like—minded – are all important lines of action.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Tonino Picula
Political group: S-D
Country: France
Language: EN

Madam President, Mr High Representative, yes, it’s high time we debate our relations with China, which are essential for the European Union, our role as a global actor and our future development. The most essential task is to unite the position of Member States on this, and we continue to see individual actions that affect us all. We should simultaneously work on our industry redeployment as we work on energy independence. Members of this House are still sanctioned for speaking the truth about evident human rights violations. Moreover, we see reports on illegal Chinese policing in the European Union. Russian aggression in Ukraine is also testing our relations. It’s essential to talk, open up a long list of difficult questions and stand firm in defending our stances. But while we can discuss with China global challenges and negotiate the rules on how we trade in goods, we should never trade our values.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Dragoş Tudorache
Political group: Renew
Country: Lithuania
Language: EN

Madam President, High Representative, dear colleagues, making choices in politics is never easy. We have indulged for decades in economic past dependencies. We pretended that ideologies do not matter, that half democracies are fine.  And look what we have achieved. Russia, our biggest energy trading partner, is bombing civilians every day. At our doorstep in China, our largest trading partner overall, is itself challenging the rule-based order we worked so hard to build.  I agree, High Representative, but we cannot afford total economic decoupling, and that there are areas where we must and can work together with China. But, we cannot continue to sell our ports to regimes that do not share our values. We cannot fly Chinese drones to inspect our critical infrastructure and we cannot pretend that Chinese technology is safe as long as it is state-controlled. There is no piece of hardware or software, no matter how small or apparently insignificant, that cannot contain an embedded backdoor spy program. And there is no security audit invented that can guarantee a full check. The same stands true for raw materials, where the risk is not a direct security exposure but a threat to our critical supply chains.  So let us wake up High Representative, to this geopolitical reality and do something about it.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Juan Ignacio Zoido Álvarez
Political group: PPE
Language: ES

Señora presidenta, señor alto representante, el Servicio de Acción Exterior de la Unión Europea ha definido a China como un socio estratégico, un rival sistémico y un competidor económico. La cooperación en asuntos estratégicos es, efectivamente, una responsabilidad compartida, pero para progresar tenemos que garantizar la reciprocidad en las reglas del juego.  Necesitamos seguir derribando las barreras comerciales unilaterales que mantiene China para nuestros productos, pero también, como hace Pekín, nosotros debemos ser muy cuidadosos con las inversiones en sectores críticos (como las tecnologías más avanzadas, la inteligencia artificial, los semiconductores o la industria de defensa), que son la base de nuestra autonomía estratégica. Si algo hemos aprendido tras la invasión de Ucrania es que las dependencias, tanto energética como tecnológica, pueden convertirse en nuestro talón de Aquiles.  Por eso, señor Borrell, ¿cree que las crecientes inversiones chinas en infraestructuras y empresas tecnológicas suponen un riesgo geopolítico para la Unión Europea? O, dicho en otras palabras, ¿son el puerto de Hamburgo e inversiones similares un nuevo Nord Stream 2?
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Maria Arena
Political group: S-D
Country: Belgium
Language: FR

Madame la Présidente, la Chine est un partenaire commercial de l’Union européenne. J’ai même envie de dire le partenaire commercial de l’Union européenne. Presque 600 milliards d’échanges avec la Chine, 20 milliards de plus que les échanges avec les États-Unis. En même temps, le régime chinois ne partage pas nos standards en matière de droits de l’homme. On a parlé travail forcé, régime de surveillance, sanctions à l’égard des opposants à Hong Kong et ce ne sont que des exemples. S’il ne nous appartient pas de changer le régime chinois – ce serait naïf de le penser –, nous avons la responsabilité de ne pas être complices de ce régime. Donc, j’aurais quelques questions. Quelle est la position du Conseil en matière d’interdiction des produits issus du travail forcé chinois qui entrent sur le marché européen? Quelle est la position du Conseil sur un vrai mécanisme de
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Ivars Ijabs
Political group: Renew
Country: France
Language: EN

Madam President, Mr Borrell, EU-China relations are as much about securing the rules-based international order as about realistic assessments of Europe’s strategic interests, not least in the areas of trade and investment.  Much has been said already about screening inbound investment in strategically important sectors from chips to ports, but equally important is a hard-nosed attitude towards outbound strategic investment. Some European governments have already taken case-by-case decisions not to issue guarantees to companies that might benefit from slave labour or massive human rights violations in China.  However, European rules are needed to tighten its investment regulations. We have export controls and a carbon border tax, so we have to make sure that foreign investment is not used to circumvent those export controls or to produce carbon leakage.  In this context, I am looking very much forward to the European Commission coming up with a revision of the EU’s FDI screening and outbound investment control regulations. Naivety is not an option in relations with China and international relations in general.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: David Lega
Political group: PPE
Country: Germany
Language: EN

Madam President, Mr Borrell, we promised never again. The European Union is founded on the values of human dignity, freedom, equality and human rights. I took the floor to remind the High Representative about the situation in Xinjiang: persecution, detention and forced labour, torture, rape and systematic sexual abuse, mass forced sterilisation and forced abortions. So I would like to remind Mr Borrell that the CCP’s crimes against the Uyghurs constitute crimes against humanity and a serious risk of genocide. So let me remind you that all signatories of the Genocide Convention are obliged to prevent and punish the crime of genocide. So please, Mr Borrell, if you cannot prevent the genocide, at least punish the abusers and sanction the monsters, because we promised never again.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: René Repasi
Political group: S-D
Country: Netherlands
Language: DE

Frau Präsidentin, Hoher Vertreter, liebe Kolleginnen und Kollegen! Unsere Strategie gegenüber China ist eine große Herausforderung, weil sie uns vor die Frage stellt: Was wollen wir eigentlich selber sein als Europäische Union am Ende der Zeit der Turboglobalisierung durch Pandemie und Krieg? Wollen wir ein großer Markt sein mit reichen Verbraucherinnen und Verbrauchern, auf dem man seine Produkte billig absetzen kann? Oder wollen wir eine selbstbewusste Mittelmacht sein? Vor dieser Entscheidung stehen wir auch und gerade gegenüber China. Dazu müssen wir unsere Hausaufgaben machen, denn meine Entscheidung geht für Zweiteres. Und Hausaufgabe heißt, dass wir im Inneren ein EU-Lieferkettengesetz brauchen, indem wir sehen, dass wir unsere Handelsbeziehungen diversifiziert bekommen, dass wir Zwangsarbeit verbieten, dass wir unsere Cybersecurity anpacken und wir dementsprechend für uns selber ein starker Raum sind. Das bedeutet für unsere Verbraucherinnen und Verbraucher Kosten – Produkte werden weniger, und sie werden teurer. Aber das ist der Preis, den wir zahlen wollen, wenn wir strategisch autonom gegenüber China auftreten sollen. Diese Autonomie möchte ich hier verteidigen. Und ich möchte Sie hier als Hohen Vertreter dazu auffordern, für diese Autonomie zu kämpfen. Das bedeutet aber auch, im Gespräch mit China zu bleiben, aber bitte mit einer Stimme – ganz gleich, wer sie spricht.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Bart Groothuis
Political group: Renew
Country: Portugal
Language: EN

Madam President,  dear Commissioner, High Representative, some see intellectual property theft on an almost industrial scale as the second-oldest profession in the world. What’s new? Instead of the slow drainage of our economic competitiveness, some see unfair competition with state subsidies, non-reciprocal market access just as mere trade issues, technical, instead of a frontal attack on our prosperity. And some see Chinese disinformation or support for dictators worldwide or its relationship with Russia, its military build-up as merely an expression of the new multipolar world, ‘get used to it’, instead of an attack on the liberal world order. Well, the EU, we respond to such threats with numerous pieces of legislation, critical entities, cybersecurity, foreign direct investment and what have you. But we do so with a country-agnostic, a country-neutral approach. But, in practice, this significantly hampers the effectiveness of these measures. Country-specific problems need country-specific legislation. We might believe we live in peace with the world, but China dictates itself that is in conflict with us. So act accordingly and let’s legislate accordingly.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Miriam Lexmann
Political group: PPE
Country: Spain
Language: EN

Madam President, it seems the European Union has not learned its lesson. Even with the terrible human and economic costs of COVID-19, the CCP’s terror against all goods and people across China and growing aggression abroad, some EU leaders still think there can be business as usual with the CCP.  We have also discovered that the United Front, an arm of the CCP, has a network of offices across Europe, spreading the CCP’s malign influence in our institutions and using them as  I therefore call on those EU Member States who have not yet done so to launch formal investigations and ensure the immediate closing of these illegal police stations.  It is not merely disturbing that the totalitarian regime is allowed to engage in such illegal extra-territorial activities in the EU. Their presence poses a grave security risk, not only for the Chinese diaspora, but for the very foundations of our democracy.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Peter van Dalen
Political group: PPE
Country: Italy
Language: NL

Voorzitter, het is essentieel dat Europese lidstaten bij strategische zaken zoals technologie, zeldzame aardmetalen en cruciale infrastructuur zelfstandiger worden. We hebben gezien hoe Rusland Europa met energie heeft gechanteerd. Dat moet ons niet weer gebeuren met China. Strategische autonomie dient onze economische belangen, maar ook de rol van Europa als waardengemeenschap. Onder het regime van Xi vinden op grote schaal mensenrechtenschendingen plaats en genocide en orgaanroof en noemt u maar op. We moeten China verantwoordelijk houden voor deze misdaden. Grotere economische onafhankelijkheid van China bevordert de daadkracht en de geloofwaardigheid van onze stellingname. Ik hoop dat mijnheer Borrell toch heeft geluisterd.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Francisco José Millán Mon
Political group: PPE
Country: Spain
Language: ES

Señora presidenta, China es una gran potencia que, tanto por su tamaño como por peso político, económico y demográfico, no podemos ignorar. Está claro que necesitamos contar con China para hacer frente a retos globales. Tenemos que coexistir con China. Una relación donde habrá cooperación, pero también competencia y rivalidad.  Hablando de cooperación, China, miembro permanente del Consejo de Seguridad, tiene que distanciarse abiertamente de Moscú y contribuir de forma activa al final de la agresión rusa.  No caben ambigüedades ni neutralidades. O no debieran caber.  Pero quiero referirme hoy al sector tecnológico: me preocupan los intercambios de tecnologías avanzadas. La Unión tiene que estar vigilante, especialmente con las susceptibles de uso militar.  Hemos visto como recientemente, el 7 de octubre, el Gobierno Biden (el alto representante se acaba de referir a esto) adoptó unas medidas restrictivas en materia de exportación de semiconductores avanzados a China. ¿Van a hablar de estas restricciones, señor Borrell, en el marco de la reunión del 5 de diciembre del Consejo de Comercio y Tecnología?  Por lo que veo, va a enviar a algunos de sus colaboradores la semana que viene. Hace usted bien. A mí me parece un tema importantísimo, de gran actualidad y creo, desde luego, que tiene que seguirlo con mucho interés.  El tema de los semiconductores es clave. No podemos ser dependientes, pero tenemos que tener cuidado con las exportaciones, que es donde está Washington.  Tendrán que reactualizar las relaciones con China, también teniendo en cuenta su actitud en relación con Moscú.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Henna Virkkunen
Political group: PPE
Country: Italy
Language: EN

Madam President, Vice—President, for decades Europe believed that strong economic ties and trade and multilateral cooperation would help to promote democracy and human rights in China. We now know that was not the case and that President Xi only used this to strengthen his own power.  Europe must learn from the mistakes we made with Russia. We were far too dependent on Russian fossil fuels, and now when we are boosting our green transition and digitalisation, we must not allow ourselves to become dependent on Chinese critical raw materials. We must find alternative suppliers and develop our own production capabilities. This is why I welcome the Chips Act’s objective of doubling Europe’s share of semiconductors, and I look forward to the Commission’s upcoming proposal on critical raw materials. Europe can’t afford to neglect our own security of supply and resilience. Trade with China must be fair and also reciprocal.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Georgios Kyrtsos
Political group: Renew
Country: Germany
Language: EL

Κυρία Πρόεδρε, ήθελα να πω ότι μου αρέσει η προσέγγιση του κυρίου Borrell διότι —εντάξει, όλοι καταδικάζουμε το καθεστώς και τα χαρακτηριστικά του στην Κίνα, αλλά αυτό δεν μας λύνει το πρόβλημα— είναι ένας πολύ ισχυρός ανταγωνιστής η Κίνα, έχει μια στρατηγική να επικρατήσει σε παγκόσμιο επίπεδο μέχρι το 2049 και δεν έχουμε, βέβαια, και την πολυτέλεια να κλειστούμε, να πάθουμε μια κρίση εσωστρέφειας —δηλαδή όχι στο εμπόριο, όχι στις επενδύσεις, κ.ο.κ.  Διότι σε όποια χώρα και να επισκεφτώ —πήγα πρόσφατα στην Αυστραλία, στη Χιλή, με αποστολή του Ευρωπαϊκού Κοινοβουλίου— βλέπω ότι οι Κινέζοι έχουν φύγει πολύ μπροστά και εμείς πρέπει να βρούμε τρόπους, τους οποίους δεν ξέρουμε ακόμα, για να γίνουμε πιο ανταγωνιστικοί και πιο αποτελεσματικοί. Επίσης, θεωρώ λάθος να συγκρίνουμε την Κίνα με τη Ρωσία, διότι η Ρωσία είναι μια μέτρια δύναμη. Μπορεί να είναι πυρηνική υπερδύναμη, αλλά η Κίνα είναι σίγουρη για τον εαυτό της και έχει μια μακροπρόθεσμη στρατηγική.  Τέλος, για να καταλάβουμε τι γίνεται στην Κίνα, καθώς έχουμε και το πρόβλημα της γλώσσας, προτείνω να κάνουμε δεξαμενές σκέψης όπου να συμμετέχουν εκπρόσωποι από την Ταϊβάν και από την Αυστραλία γιατί στις επισκέψεις μου σε αυτές τις χώρες είδα ότι αναλύουν την Κίνα, ξέρουν τη γλώσσα και ξέρουν περισσότερα από εμάς.
Debate: EU-China relations
Date: TUESDAY, 22 NOVEMBER 2022
Speaker: Silvia Sardone
Political group: ID
Country: Austria
Language: IT

Signora Presidente, onorevoli colleghi, l'Unione europea è sempre più sottomessa alla Cina.  Dal 2035, di fatto, ci sarà l'obbligo dell'auto elettrica, dipenderemo dalla Cina. Il mercato delle auto elettriche, dalle batterie alle materie prime, alle terre rare, è di fatto un monopolio del gigante asiatico. Passiamo dalla dipendenza dal gas della Russia a quello della Cina praticamente, a una dipendenza ulteriore dal gigante asiatico. Il tutto nascondendoci dietro al  Ma chiudete gli occhi anche di fronte alle violazioni dei diritti umani imposti dalla dittatura comunista del governo cinese. Persecuzioni verso oppositori politici, minoranze etniche e religiose. Insomma, siamo stanchi della vostra sottomissione alla Cina.