EU parliament to stymie China deal if conditions not met

 CHINA must remove sanctions on European Union politicians and diplomats if Beijing wants a new investment accord with Brussels, say EU parliamentarians.

These sentiments are expected to be released according to a draft document, secured by Reuters news agency.

Beijing's punitive measures, blocking travel to China and business with its companies, were imposed in March in response to Western sanctions against Chinese officials accused of the mass detentions of Muslim Uyghurs in northwestern China.

The leaked document says EU lawmakers say the Chinese sanctions are not based on international law, while the bloc's measures tackle abuses of human rights upheld in United Nations treaties.

The powerless European Parliament is set to approve its resolution saying that the approval process of the investment pact in the EU has "justifiably been frozen because the Chinese sanctions are in place", according to the draft.

The parliament "demands that China lift the sanctions before dealing with (the investment accord)", the draft said. "EU-China relations may not continue business as usual," it said.

The resolution means the pact agreed in late December cannot proceed because the sanctions affect some of the MEPs involved in negotiations.

The parliament will say that no other EU trade agreement negotiations in Asia should be affected by the dispute with Beijing.