' "Trade and investment are an area where economic interests have always prevailed over respect for human rights, as much as security concerns have always prevailed in migration management," says Elena Crespi, program officer for Western Europe at the International Federation for Human Rights.
And while the parliament has a good track record on human rights, awarding its Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to an imprisoned Uyghur scholar in 2019, critics believe the commission falls short in comparison.
"The current commission is not sufficiently doing its job in upholding European values," says Alice Stollmeyer, executive director of Defend Democracy. "Whether it's fudging on rule of law in Hungary and Poland or failing to properly speak out against atrocities elsewhere, the EU sadly seems to have a policy of appeasement for abusers."
It's no secret that the EU is in a transitional phase. Those at the center of the project see a future of closer union and its officials in Brussels becoming serious players on the world stage in their own right.'
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Europe's much-criticized pursuit of Chinese cash may be starting to unravel, May 27, 2021
Context'..China has committed genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghur Muslims and ethnic and religious minority groups who live in Xinjiang..'Pelosi calls for China Winter Olympics boycott