L’UE et la Chine sont d’accord pour reprogrammer le sommet annulé[en] 

On 26 November 2008, Beijing abruptly cancelled the EU-China summit scheduled for 1 December in Lyon (EurActiv 27/11/08), citing the fact that the Dalai Lama would be visiting several EU countries at the same time and was set to meet with EU heads of state and government as well as presidents of European institutions. 

It was the first time such an event had been cancelled since the first annual EU-China summit took place in 1998 in London. The Chinese government was also believed to have been angered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy's meeting with the Dalai Lama in Gdansk, Poland, at a gathering of Nobel Peace Prize winners. 

Diplomatic ties had been strained following Beijing's decision to abruptly cancel the EU-China summit scheduled for December, amid tensions over French President Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to meet the Dalai Lama (Euractiv 28/01/09). 

The leaders declined to formally fix a date, but Reuters quoted diplomatic sources as saying an April meeting in the Czech Republic is likely. The summit is likely to take place shortly after the G20 meeting, which takes place in London on April 2. 

Asked whether he felt relations had been strained following last year's cancellation of the EU-China summit scheduled for December, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said he did not believe the "difficulties" would affect a broader historical trend towards closer ties. 

Wen said cooperation is critical to stabilising the international financial system. This was the main subject of the meeting between the Chinese delegation and the European Commission in Brussels. 

Barroso said the EU and China will also work closely to cooperate on climate change ahead of a UN summit on climate change in Copenhagen this December. Barroso said he raised the sensitive issues of Tibet and human rights in China during discussions with Wen, while a group of approximately 100 pro-Tibetan protesters rallied outside the Commission building. "There were no taboos – it was a frank and open discussion based on mutual respect," the Commission president added. 

Wen said he had no difficulty with the EU raising any subject, providing it is done on the basis of "real equality and mutual trust". He described Barroso as "a far-sighted statesman and a candid friend". 

He said China supports EU integration and development and that cooperation is central to global peace and prosperity. "We are of the view that a strong EU is key to a multi-polar world," Wen added. 

At its meeting in the European Commission, the EU and China signed nine cooperation agreements covering intellectual property rights (IPR), clean energy, occupational health, civil aviation, student exchange and trade in drug precursors. 

Barroso put particular emphasis on moves to strengthen enforcement of IPR by customs authorities, saying it is an issue to which the EU attaches great importance. 

Commissioner László Kovács said China is aligning its customs legislation to correspond with EU rules. However, he added that China remains a main source of fake goods or illicit drug precursors entering the EU. 

MEP Marco Cappato (ALDE, IT) drew attention to human rights abuses in China at a press conference organised to lobby for the reintroduction of an uncensored Chinese-language TV channel, NTDTV. 

"As the West celebrates the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall, in 2009 China will observe the 50th anniversary of the Chinese communist government's rule in Tibet, the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre and the 10th anniversary of the persecution of the Falun Gong spiritual practice," Cappato said. 

"This strong contrast highlights the need for information freedom in China. Without NTDTV's pioneering work to bring uncensored information to China, the vast majority of the Chinese population will have no access to information commemorating these solemn occasions," he added. 

In a letter to European Commission President José Manuel Barroso, director-general of BusinessEurope, Philippe de Buck, called for trade barriers to be removed. 

"Substantial progress is need to prevent the subsidisation of exports, which may provoke trade disputes, to facilitate customs procedures, to ensure IPR implementation at all levels, to address the harmful effects of Chinese regulation on compulsory technology transfer; and to remove export duties on raw materialsm," de Buck said. 

Vincent Metten, European director of the International Campaign for Tibet, said Tibet should have been on the agenda of meetings between Chinese officials and EU leaders. "The important discussions on the global financial crisis should not overshadow the question of Tibet nor the issue of human rights in China." 

In a press release, the European Falun Dafa (Falun Gong) Information Centre called on China to "stop the persecution of Falun Gong without delay". "The persecution of Falun Gong, which is reaching its tenth year, has brought unbearable suffering to millions of people. Children have been robbed of their parents and grandparents."