Written question asked by Anne Campbell (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 September 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 15 September 2004. It was answered by Bill Rammell (Labour) on Wednesday, 15 September 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 assessment he has made of the persecution of the Falun Gong in China; and what action the Government is taking to draw attention to this.

Answer: Mrs. Anne Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of the persecution of the Falun Gong in China; and what action the Government are taking to draw attention to this. [188634] Mr. Rammell: We have serious concerns about human rights abuses against Falun Gong adherents in China, We regularly raise these concerns with the Chinese Government. At the most recent round of the biannual UK/China Human Rights Dialogue, held in London on 13-14 May, we again noted our concerns about the mistreatment of Falun Gong practitioners in detention, and handed over a list of individual cases of concern which included Falun Gong prisoners. I also recently raised the issue of human rights with Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui during my visit to China in July.

Secondary information