[Article from the largest German daily, Süddeutsche Zeitung, regarding the appearance of President Rau in China. Dechen Pemba in the ICT office in Berlin has kindly translated them into English.]
By Kai Strittmatter, Beijing
15.9.2003 Süddeutsche Zeitung
Beijing – Unexpectedly, the President of Germany Johannes Rau has openly reproved the Chinese government to respect human rights. In a speech in front of 1000 students of the University of Nanjing, Rau said that criticism of violations of human rights was ‘no interference’ in the internal affairs of other countries but covered by the Charter of the UN. Rau praised the reforms in China and referred to the fact that the country had signed the UN Human Rights Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The President said that his underlying realisation was that “a large country such as China can not be well governed in the long-term by authoritarian policies.” Rau offered Germany’s assistance for judicial reforms.
The Federal President quoted the Chinese philosopher Confucius several times, according to whom nothing is more important to a country than “the trust of the people”. Rau also referred to China’s constitution, which lists nearly all civil rights that are also known in the West. In contrast to the West, China’s constitution then constricts these rights. Rau does not accept the argument of the Chinese rulers, that the idea of human rights is a typically Western one and a poor country such as China must put the wellbeing of its citizens first: when dealing with “life and freedom, protection from torture, arbitrary imprisonment and discrimination”, there can be “no compromises and no relatives”. He spoke of “great progress in China’s sense of justice” and amongst citizens a “change in awareness”. Addressing the concerns of some German entrepreneurs that his frank words could harm the business climate, Rau avowed to do “all he could to help the German economy abroad”. He was “however, not prepared to remain silent on what needed to be addressed”.
In Nanjing the President visited a chemical plant established by BASF in collaboration with a Chinese partner; it is the largest German investment in China. Furthermore he lead a one minute silence at the memorial to the German businessman John Rabe who in 1937 had saved thousands of Chinese people from massacre at the hands of the Japanese occupiers. In Shanghai he visited the area in which 25,000 European Jews settled having fled from the Nazis.
