China partially lifts sanctions imposed on European Parliament in 2021

The Chinese government has partially lifted its sanctions imposed on several members and a subcommittee of the European Parliament in March 2021, reports the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung daily.

The respective letter was received on April 25—and it was addressed to president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola. She plans to inform the leaders of the European Parliament groups about this.

In particular, the aforesaid sanctions were lifted against the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights and four members of the European Parliament (MEPs): Michael Gahler (Germany), Raphael Glucksmann (France), Miriam Lexmann (Slovakia), and Ilhan Kyuchyuk (Bulgaria).

However, the sanctions continue to apply to Reinhard Betikofer (Germany) and the EU Council’s Political and Security Committee.

The EU claims that the initiative to lift these sanctions came from Beijing.

In Brussels, this decision is viewed as a step towards joining the EU amid the trade conflict between China and the United States.

The aforesaid MEPs were sanctioned by China for interfering in the internal affairs of the country’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. This came after the foreign ministers of the 27 EU countries had approved restrictive measures against 11 individuals and 4 companies, including from Russia and China, which the EU believes are involved in human rights violations.