Written question asked by David Drew (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 November 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 16 November 2004. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Tuesday, 16 November 2004 on behalf of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with the Chinese Government on the subject of the arrest of church leaders in Xinjiang Autonomous Region on 12th July.

Answer: Mr. Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with the Chinese Government on the subject of the arrest of church leaders in Xinjiang Autonomous Region on 12 July. [198070] Mr. Rammell: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Officials raised the mass arrests of religious practitioners in Xinjiang Autonomous Region with Deputy Director General of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Wang Zuo'an during the latter's visit to the UK in September. We are deeply concerned about religious freedom in China. We use the biannual UK/China Human Rights Dialogue to raise our concerns about these and other human rights issues with the Chinese Government. At the last round, held in May, we noted our concern that the prohibition of some religious groups and the legal restrictions placed upon members of others were tantamount to a denial of their members' freedom of religious belief.

Secondary information