§ 1. Mr. John Wilkinson (Ruislip-Northwood)If he will make a statement about the UK's bilateral relations with the People's Republic of China. [120870]
§ The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Robin Cook)We pursue a strategy of critical engagement with China. That enables us to pursue a dialogue in depth with another permanent member of the Security Council on a range of issues of mutual anxiety, such as global climate change, nuclear non-proliferation and regional tensions such as those in south Asia. At the recent round of human rights dialogue, agreement was reached on a visit to discuss abolition of the death penalty, a joint working group on implementation of the two United Nations covenants, which China has signed since the start of dialogue, and on a visit to Tibet by the all-party Tibet group.
130 However, we remain deeply concerned about the persistent violation of human rights in China, especially the continuing arrest of political dissidents and detention without trial.
§ Mr. WilkinsonI am grateful to the Foreign Secretary for that reply. Is he also concerned about the unlawful behaviour of the police during the official visit of President Jiang Zemin, when they snatched banners and Tibetan flags from protesters after they had been briefed six or seven times by Foreign Office officials? Does he take pride in the fact that the United Kingdom failed to co-sponsor the resolution of the United States of America—that freedom-loving nation—to the United Nations Commission for Human Rights to protest against human rights violations in China and Tibet?
§ Mr. CookWe did not sponsor the resolution. As the hon. Gentleman knows, we voted against the Chinese motion of no action, which was carried. We did not sponsor the resolution partly because we did not understand the purpose of handing China a victory on its motion of no action year after year. However, when Europe discussed the matter, we expressly said that our decision in future years would be weighed against the progress that is achieved in the human rights dialogue with China.
On the hon. Gentleman's other question, I noted what the Metropolitan police said in their submission to the court. I am sure that the hon. Gentleman noted that the statement stressed that the police facilitated a highly visible and loud protest on subsequent occasions when President Jiang Zemin was present. I re-emphasise that the Foreign Office made no request to the police to confiscate flags.
§ Mr. Ben Chapman (Wirral, South)Does my right hon. Friend agree that China is a colossus on the world stage—whether in terms of the environment, whether in terms of global security, or whether in terms of its general geo-political importance—and that it is important to maintain a dialogue with it? Does he also agree that, in that context, President Jiang Zemin's visit was important and successful?
§ Mr. CookMy hon. Friend sets out clearly and eloquently why it is important for Britain and other major world players to be able to hold frank and open dialogue with China and to start from the perspective of taking each other's views seriously.
I want to stress one of the points that I made in my initial answer. On current projections, China will produce as many greenhouse gases as the United States in the next generation. In those circumstances, it is vital that we engage constructively with China on stabilising the global climate.