After eight countries summoned their local Chinese ambassadors, the Italian Foreign Ministry also summoned Chinese Ambassador Li Junhua on Wednesday (March 24) to protest against the ban on the entry of several European parliamentarians in support of Xinjiang, and to reiterate Italy’s position of defending human rights and freedom.
Central News Agency (CNA) reported that Li Junhua attended a hearing of the Italian Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee on Wednesday, and the Lega, Italy’s most popular party, walked out en masse in protest. The Lega party then tweeted that China (the Chinese Communist Party) ignores their legitimate demands for freedom and democracy, so why do they have to put up with the authoritarian government’s lectures here?
On Monday, the European Union imposed sanctions on four former and current Communist Party officials in Xinjiang for persecuting the Uighurs, the first Time the EU has sanctioned the Communist Party since the 1989 Tiananmen Square incident. The Chinese Communist Party immediately retaliated by imposing a ban on 10 European human rights activists and four European human rights organizations from entering China.
The organizations include the Political Security Committee of the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament’s Human Rights Section, the Mercator Center for China Studies (MERICS) in Germany, and the Danish Democratic Union Foundation.
Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Marina Sereni summoned Li Junhua on Wednesday morning to express her strong dissatisfaction, stressing that the defense of human rights and fundamental freedoms is Italy’s unshakable position and that Italy will stand firmly with those parliamentarians, scholars and think tanks sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party.
Italy agrees with the measures taken by the European Union to defend the human rights of the Uighurs in Xinjiang, and Italy cannot accept the countermeasures taken by China (CCP), Celanni said. The Chinese countermeasures undermine the freedom of speech, thought and expression, which are the cornerstone of democratic values and the philosophy that enlightens Italy and the EU as a whole.
In his concluding remarks, Serrani noted that the EU assumes a key role in global affairs and hoped that China would be more open and honest in its dialogue with the EU and seek mutual cooperation.
On the other hand, the press release posted on the official website of the Chinese Embassy in Italy does not mention that Li Junhua was summoned by the Foreign Ministry of Italy to protest, but rather that Li Junhua “made serious representations to the Italian Foreign Ministry”; it also emphasizes that China (the Chinese Communist Party) has always been “if people offend me, I will offend them “.
Matteo Salvini, president of the Alliance Party, in an interview with the Italian TV station Rete4 on Wednesday, criticized China for hiding and spreading the Epidemic, and that China should pay the price.
Piero Fassino, president of the Italian Foreign Affairs Committee, which belongs to the leftist Democratic Party, also said during the hearing that Italy recognizes that each country has its own cultural and religious background, but human rights values are universal and the human rights and citizenship of each country’s citizens should not be denied. This is a principle that even China (the Chinese Communist Party) should abide by. The “Universal Declaration of Human Rights” invoked by the EU is recognized by 168 countries worldwide, including China, and the EU is not imposing its own values on other countries.
In response to the Communist Party’s sanctions, EU members Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany and Lithuania summoned their respective ambassadors on Tuesday. The Netherlands summoned the CCP ambassador in The Hague on Monday to protest the CCP’s sanctions against Dutch MP Sjoerd Sjoerdsma.
Estonia and Sweden also summoned their local CCP ambassadors. Swedish Foreign Minister Linde on Tuesday summoned Chinese Ambassador Gui Congyou, who was met by State Secretary Riedberg, to express his strong displeasure with the Chinese Communist Party over the sanctions against Swedish Asian studies scholar Ye Biyang.
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