§ Lord Moynihanasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Answer by the Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean on 26 October (H.L. Deb., col. 1686) regarding the Government's policy towards the human rights record of China and Burma, respectively, whether they consider that, since democratic elections were held in Burma which were then undemocratically overturned, the human rights record of Burma justifies greater "outrage" on the part of the Government than the human rights record of China. [HL298]
§ Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanWe are deeply concerned about the human rights records of many countries and we judge these by the international standards which have been set out by the United Nations. We believe that it is important to address our human rights concerns in the way most likely to bring about concrete results in terms of practical progress on the ground. This will not be the same in each case. One of the important factors we take into account is the extent to which countries are ready to co-operate with the UN human rights system and also how far they are ready to undertake reform.