WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2606/97 by Johanna MAIJ-WEGGEN to the Commission. Ill-treatment of Chinese dissident Wei Jinsheng
C 102/70 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 3. 4. 98 (98/C 102/103) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2606/97 by Johanna Maij-Weggen (PPE) to the Commission (1 September 1997) Subject: Ill-treatment of Chinese dissident Wei Jinsheng Is the Commission aware that Chinese dissident Wei Jinsheng, who is serving out a 14-year prison term in Tangshan prison (Hebei province) for his outspoken opinions on matters relating to political and human rights in China, was beaten and ill-treated by fellow prisoners on various occasions in June this year? Is the Commission aware that this ill-treatment took place under the very noses of the prison warders, who, far from affording Wei Jinsheng protection, had the temerity to subject him to additional punishment for alleged incitement to violence? Is the Commission prepared to ask the Chinese government for clarification of the manner in which Mr Wei Jinsheng is being treated by the Chinese authorities? Can the Commission state which EU Member States are at present granting asylum to Chinese refugees who are being persecuted for their political and human rights activities? Answer given by Sir Leon Brittan on behalf of the Commission (16 September 1997) The situation of human rights in China is an issue of great concern for the Commission, which is fully committed to the improvement of the situation. The Union has already expressed its concern to the Chinese authorities about the particular case of Mr Wei Jinsheng, as well as about the situation of all political prisoners in China. Prison conditions were also one of the issues raised by the tro ¤ka in the context of the Unionís human rights dialogue with China, under which two meetings were held in January 1995 in Brussels and in January 1996 in Beijing. The Chinese authorities have suspended this specific bilateral dialogue after the joint tabling of a Union resolution on the situation of human rights in China at the April 1996 session of the United Nations human rights commission. The Union is firmly committed to resume this dialogue as soon as possible. Political asylum is being granted by Member States according to their own policy in this field. (98/C 102/104) WRITTEN QUESTION E-2608/97 by Florus Wijsenbeek (ELDR) to the Commission (1 September 1997) Subject: Transition periods for authorized dimensions for road-haulage vehicles Is the Commission aware that whereas Community rules on dimensions and weights for road haulage vehicles will enter into force on 1 January 2007 in accordance with Directive 96/53/EC (1), the transition periods for introducing these compulsory European dimensions for road haulage vehicles by that date could well vary in different EU Member States, since each Member State is effectively free to fix its own deadline for the transition? Is the Commission further aware that such discrepancies in deadlines could well cause serious problems for road transport undertakings › which provide extensive cross-border services › in that the different Member States might well require such undertakings to comply with rules in force on the basis of the transition arrangements applicable in a given Member State at any one time? That being so, situations might well arise where road transport undertakings were required to comply simultaneously with conflicting specifications for vehicle dimensions in different Member States, which would in turn distort competition as between road transport undertakings