EU’s Ashton Critical Of China Sentencing Human Rights Activitists

Catherine Ashton, High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the EU Commission had strong words Wednesday for the recent decision by China to sentence two activists to prison.

A statement released by Ashton’s spokesperson said, “The High Representative regrets the decisions taken in late December to sentence the Chinese human rights activists Chen Wei and Chen Xi to 9 and 10 years in prison respectively. This follows the recent sentencing of human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng to 3 years imprisonment.”

Additionally, the statement noted that Ashton “remains particularly concerned about the case of human rights defender Ni Yulan, particularly in view of Mrs Ni’s poor health.”

“The European Union is preoccupied with the deterioration of the situation for human rights activists in China and will continue to follow these cases attentively,” continued the statement, adding “The EU attaches great importance to the respect of human rights all over the world.”