BEIJING (Reuters) -China reaffirmed on Wednesday that it is normalising ties with the European Parliament, as Beijing seeks to forge closer economic and political ties with Brussels amid flaring global trade frictions.
“In recent years, exchanges between Chinese and European legislative bodies have encountered some setbacks due to well-known reasons,” China’s foreign ministry said, referring to disputes over alleged human rights abuses in the Xinjiang region.
“Under current circumstances, both sides believe it is very important for China and Europe to strengthen dialogue and cooperation,” spokesperson Lin Jian said, adding that Beijing and the European Parliament had decided to lift all restrictions on mutual exchanges of lawmakers.
The comments by China’s foreign ministry came after the South China Morning Post reported that Beijing had removed “restrictions” on former EU lawmaker Reinhard Buetikofer sanctioned in 2021.
The normalisation of ties was first confirmed by both the European Parliament and Beijing earlier this year.
Wednesday’s remarks also came ahead of a China-EU leaders’ summit slated for later this month when the EU’s Ursula von der Leyen and Antonio Costa are expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang in Beijing.
In March 2021, China blacklisted 10 EU individuals and four entities in response to Brussels’ sanctions against Chinese officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Buetikofer, a German politician who chaired the European Parliament’s delegation to China at the time, was among those sanctioned, barred from entering China or doing business with it.
Beijing had accused those sanctioned of seriously harming the country’s sovereignty and interests over Xinjiang.
(Reporting by Joe Cash and Xiuhao Chen in Beijing; Writing by Farah Master; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
