Written question asked by Iain Wright (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 10 March 2006. It was answered by Ian Pearson (Labour) on Monday, 13 March 2006 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Religious Persecution

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to the Chinese authorities on religious persecution against Protestant groups in China.

Answer: The Government are concerned about limitations on freedom of religious belief in China and the treatment of religious practitioners, including Protestants. We regularly raise our concerns with the Chinese Government. We did so at the last UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in June 2005. I spoke at length about the persecution of Christians in China during a parliamentary debate on 13 July 2005, Official Report, columns 302–308WH. Freedom of religion was a focus of the last EU-China Human Rights Dialogue, which took place under the UK presidency in October 2005. The EU Troika raised freedom of religious practice in demarches on the Chinese Government in Beijing on 29 December 2005 and 15 February 2006. We continue to raise our concerns about religious freedom with the Chinese authorities.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 57993; 443 c1909-10W;443 c1909-10W
Session: 2005-06
Related items: Persecution of Christians (South-East Asia and China)
Wednesday, 13 July 2005
Proceeding contributions
House of Commons
Subjects: China Religious freedom
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk