§ Mr. WilkinsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the objectives of the human rights dialogue between the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China and the criteria he has established for the evaluation of its success. [157528]
§ Mr. BattleHMG's overall objective in pursuing a structured human rights dialogue with China is to promote the highest possible adherence by China to existing international standards on human rights. While the specific objectives of each round of dialogue reflect issues of particular interest or concern at that time, the strategic direction of the dialogue process remains constant. To that end, the dialogue is accompanied by a comprehensive programme of technical advice and assistance on specific areas which give rise to human rights concerns.
In taking forward our dialogue with the Chinese Government, we are guided inter alia by the objectives agreed by the EU General Affairs Council on 22 January for the EU's own dialogue with China. These are:
- ratification and implementation of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
- co-operation with human rights mechanisms (visit by the UN Rapporteur on Torture, invitation to other Rapporteurs, follow-up to recommendations from conventional mechanisms and recommendations by Rapporteurs, implementation of the agreement with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights);
- in the context of seeking the universal abolition of capital punishment including in China, as a first step to promoting compliance with ECOSOC guarantees for the protection of those sentenced to death and restriction of the cases in which the death penalty can be imposed, in keeping with Article 6 of the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; provision of statistics on use of the death penalty;
- reform of administrative detention; introduction of judicial supervision of procedures; respect for the right to a fair and impartial trial and for the rights of the defence;
- respect for the fundamental rights of all prisoners, including those arrested for membership of the political opposition, unofficial religious movements or other movements; progress on access to
535W prisoners in Chinese prisons, including in the autonomous regions; constructive response to individual cases raised by the EU; - exercise of freedom of religion and belief, both public and private; respect for the right to organise;
- respect for cultural rights and religious freedoms in particular in Tibet and Xinjiang, halt to the "patriotic education" campaign in Tibet, access for an independent delegation, acceptable to both sides, to visit Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the child designated by the Dalai Lama as 11th Panchen Lama.
In addition, the UK's approach to the last two rounds of the dialogue with China was aimed at:
- the end to jamming of the BBC World Service broadcasts;
- freedom of expression and freedom of the press.
We will carry out regular reviews of the dialogue process, which will include an assessment of progress achieved on these objectives.