§ Mr. McNamaraTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if during the visit to the United Kingdom by the President of China he raised with the President(a) the use of capital punishment in China and (b) the Chinese policy on compulsory abortion; and what replies he received. [95424]
§ Mr. BattleThe use of capital punishment figures prominently in the human rights dialogues with the Chinese which we hold both bilaterally and with the EU. The Chinese Government are in no doubt about our strong opposition to the use of the death penalty. We have regularly raised our concerns about China's population policy in the EU and the bilateral human rights dialogues, and at higher levels. We believe that coercion has no place in family planning and our bilateral aid programme does not include funding for population programmes.
My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary was able to discuss human rights in China with the Chinese Foreign Minister, Tang Jiaxuan, when they met on 20 October, and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister also raised human rights issues with President Jiang on 21 October. Specific issues, including capital punishment and the Chinese birth control policy, are also addressed through the regular high level human rights dialogue between us, which we remain convinced is the best way to secure progress over the longer term.