§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what position he adopted in discussions with EU colleagues at the General Affairs Council on Tuesday 4 December on the criteria for evaluation of the bilateral dialogue with China on human rights to be made public and for there to be a timetable for achieving objectives. [142136]
§ Mr. BattleFollowing a UK initiative, the EU has been engaged in a review of its human rights dialogue with China. This process includes the setting of objectives for 147W the dialogue. The 4 December General Affairs Council did not discuss the review. We expect the General Affairs Council on 29 January to do so.
§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what steps he is taking to obtain copies of the photographs that the Chinese authorities have shown to UK and EU officials, which the Chinese authorities maintain are of the Panchen Lama, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima. [142138]
§ Mr. BattleThe British Embassy in Beijing made a formal request for the photographs on 27 October. The Chinese responded on 10 November that such a request was "unreasonable".
Subsequently, I summoned the Chinese Ambassador Ma Zhengang on 29 November to express our disappointment at the reply and to repeat our request. The Ambassador agreed to convey my concerns to the authorities in Beijing.
We will again press the Chinese during the next round of the UK/China human rights dialogue to release their photographs.