Brief News

    EU-educated charming young Chinese presence started to be felt in Council of Europe's corridors in Strasbourg at the aftermath of an Historic Resolution adopted by its Parliamentary Assembly in favor of opening the possibility to give China a special "Status" in the PanEuropean Organization.

    - "My proposal to offer to China an official status as "Observer", in short term, under conditions, was welcomed" by the CoE : "The road to Dialogue between China and the CoE has now been opened", declared after Strasbourg's debates and votes the Head of France's delegation, MEP Jean-Claude Mignon.

    "Neither complacency, nor a mere condamnation of China", but a "wise approach of a political issue of great importance", advised Mignon to all those who'd either overload claims on Democracy, Human Rights or Minorities, or close their eyes to anything, there as elsewhere... A balance which was not exactly followed during debates, contrary to Mignon's personal stance, which appeared rather even-handed.

    China is the only UNO Security Council permanent member which has not yet any status at the CoE, being still obliged to be represented in Strasbourg by a General Consul : USA and Canada, even Japan and .. Mexico, have already got a special Status at the CoE, following Strasbourg's decision, back in 1995, to counter-balance the accession of Russia (1996) by creating special links to traditional "Western-world" allies.

    All former "Socialist" Eastern European countries started to have relations whith the CoE through its former sector on Culture and Education, before becoming full Members of Strasbourg's paneuropean organization. Speculations were unfolding recently about establishing a probable concrete link with China through the topical issue of anti-doping in Sport, on the occasion of the 2008 Olympic games.

    More spectacular, a meeting co-organized a few years ago in Strasbourg, by EuroFora and the International Space University between EU Parliament's long-time Rapporteur for EU's Satellite Navigation system "GALILEO", German MEP Brigitte Langenhagen, and a group of postgraduate students, attracted special interest from Chinese experts, and was followed, in less than a month, by the anouncement of China's intention to support EU's GALILEO project with a participation of 200 million €.

    Compared to that, revendications of .. "Turkish" Minorities, by Turkish MEPs, this week in Strasbourg, spreading through a wide area extended ...from Greece up to China, appeared less worrying, than pittoresque...

    Meanwhile, France's political will to start involving China and other important countries in European and Global affairs was due to be raised also at the forthcoming G-8 Summit in Japan by President Nicolas SARKOZY, (NDLR  : confirmed on July 5)