§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if human rights concerns were raised during the recent United Kingdom/China Forum held in Beijing. [135770]
§ Mr. BattleThe UK/China Forum is a nongovernmental group. It provides a framework for building a network of influential high-level personal contacts between Britain and China, and aims to develop initiatives to build stronger UK/China links in the specific areas covered by its seven sub-committees: Environment, Media, Culture, Education, Industry, Finance and Law.
The second meeting of the Forum took place in Beijing from 16-17 October. Human rights were not on the agenda for this meeting.
505WThe meeting of the Forum coincided with the fifth round of the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue which was held in London from 16-18 October. HMG's concerns on China's human rights record were raised extensively during the Dialogue.