HL Deb 16 October 1995 vol 566 cc87-8WA
Lord Braine of Wheatley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What steps they have taken to fulfil the recommendation of the Foreign Affairs Committee report on relations with the United Kingdom and China in the period up to and beyond 1997 that further information on population control in China should be sought.

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

We regularly obtain information on population policy in China through our Embassy in Peking, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and other sources.

Lord Braine of Wheatley

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will now raise at the United Nations the specific issue of the coercive one child policy in China, and if not, why not; and

Whether the issue of population control was raised with the Chinese Vice-Premier and Foreign Minister at the United Nations meeting in New York on 18th April; and whether they will list the occasions during the last two years when the Chinese one child policy was discussed at the United Nations.

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

Chinese population policy was not specifically discussed at the meeting in New York. The issue of coercion in population programmes has been discussed in detail by the United Nations, notably during negotiations of the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development. The need to respect reproductive rights was raised most recently by the UK Government at the meeting of the Economic and Social Council in Geneva in July 1995. We believe that constructive dialogue through the UN system, not confrontation, offers the best prospects for influencing Chinese population policy. The Chinese Government is well aware that international concern about abuses of reproductive rights arises largely from reports of coercion in China.