#China - Cosnaíonn Borrell ambasadóir an AE chun na Síne ag rá 'tá a mhuinín aige fós'

Ardionadaí an AE Josep Borrell

Speaking after the recent meeting of defence ministers (12 May), EU High Representative Josep Borrell answered questions about the censorship of an op-ed written by the ambassador of the EU, and ambassadors of the 27 EU member states to China published on the occasion of the 45th anniversary of EU-China relations.

The op-ed whipped up a media storm, however Borrell said it was important not to exaggerate the importance of the matter, as it was not news that China has state-controlled media and censorship. He added that the EU’s objective was to reach the wider Chinese public. He said that the senior EU ambassador has made the wrong decision to go ahead with the publication, but that he still enjoyed the High Representative’s confidence. 

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The EU ambassador to China and the ambassadors of the 27 EU member states jointly authored an op-ed for publication in An tSín sa lá agus Phobail sa lá.

The EU delegation was informed by the publication that the op-ed would only be allowed by the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs on the condition that a part of a sentence related to the origins and spread of the coronavirus was removed. The EU Delegation to China made known its objections to the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs, but nevertheless agreed to proceed with the publication.

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The ambassadors were keen that the op-ed’s key messages were passed to the Chinese people on a number of priority areas to a potential audience of more than 1 billion readers. These messages included those on climate change and sustainability, human rights, the importance of multilateralism, the Coronavirus Global Response Summit, macro-economic assistance and debt relief for highly indebted countries.

The EU Delegation published a statement afterwards strongly regretting that the op-ed was not published in its original, unedited form by the An tSín sa lá. The op-ed was also distributed in parallel by the EU’s External Actions Service to other Chinese media outlets, some of which have, in the meantime, published the op-ed, in Chinese, in its original, unedited form.

The European External Action Service said: “The European Union consistently advocates strongly and at all levels with its Chinese interlocutors the need for a free and open press, respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms, and for a level playing field. The EU Delegation does everything it can to operate effectively and to pass EU messages to the Chinese public.”

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