Is anyone able to corroborate or disprove these news?
On Thursday 15 January the Danish national radio carried a news feature on the prospects for a China resolution at this year's session of the UNCHR. The journalist who made it is on holiday and I haven't found the information anywhere else. According to my hurried notes and memory the story went like this:
1. The Chinese People's National Congress has decided NOT to ratify the UN Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights that China signed last year;
2. Jiang Zemin has written a letter to Kofi Annan where he promises to sign the UN Covenant on Political and Civil Rights;
3. US senator Jesse Helms has called on EU member countries (and the US administration) to work for a China resolution at the UNCHR (see the AP story forwarded to the tsg-l by Jeff Napier on 15 January);
4. There are no signs at the moment that any EU countries are going to prepare a China resolution this year (there will be a meeting this month where EU representatives will meet to discuss what to do at the UNCHR meeting);
5. After the ASEM meeting in London on 2-4 April (where the Chinese prime minister will attend), EU ministers have a separate meeting with the Chinese prime minister;
6. Amnesty and Human Rights Watch are pessimistic about the prospects for a China resolution this year, given the new developments in the relations between China and the west: new initiatives for dialogue on Human Rights and China signing the UN Covenants.
Officials at the foreign ministry in Denmark don't say much but confirm that decisions on a China resolution have not yet been made and that the matter is presently being discussed in the different countries on a high political level.
These developments are really important and may determine the direction that western China policy will take for years to come, thereby affecting possibilities for our Tibet work. I would appreciate if anybody can confirm or correct these news or if anybody has more information.
Anders H. Andersen
Tibet Support Committee, Denmark
aha@city.dk
