China and Tibet (Hansard, 19 March 1998)

§ Mr. Baker
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list the matters in respect of Tibet which he raised with the Chinese Ambassador at their last meeting; and if he will make a statement. [35314]

§ Mr. Fatchett
The right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary did not discuss Tibet when he last met the Chinese Ambassador on 9 January. When he met Chinese leaders in Beijing on 19–20 January, he discussed the forthcoming EU Troika Ambassador's visit to Tibet, raised certain individual cases of concern and urged the Chinese authorities to enter into dialogue with the Tibetan people.

§ Mr. Baker
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what procedures are in place to monitor Chinese adherence to treaties and agreements signed which have human rights considerations. [35315]

§ Mr. Fatchett
Amongst the United Nations human rights treaties, China has ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD); the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC); the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW); and the Convention against Torture (CAT). States parties are required to submit periodic reports to the respective treaty monitoring bodies of the UN in respect of all of these. These monitoring bodies are responsible for examining states' adherence to their commitments under the treaties.

§ Mr. Baker
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what factors he takes into account before deciding to what extent constructive engagement is likely to be bring about an improvement to the human rights situation in(a) China and (b) Tibet. [35316]

§ Mr. Fatchett
Since the resumption of the EU-China dialogue in October 1997, China has taken some positive steps towards closer cooperation with the UN's human 679W rights mechanisms. In addition the EU and China have agreed a programme of assistance designed to improve China's human rights performance in concrete ways. We believe this approach is the best way to bring about real improvements in China, including Tibet.