§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations he has made to Chinese ministers regarding the destruction of churches in Wenzhou in China; and if he will make a statement. [145268]
§ Mr. BattleWe are concerned at the disturbing reports of the destruction of non-official Catholic and Protestant churches, and Buddhist and Taoist temples in Wenzhou, China, in late 2000. Such activities run contrary to the provisions of religious freedoms contained in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which China signed in October 1998.
We regularly press the Chinese authorities to respect these provisions and to permit free religious worship outside the parameters of the official churches in China—we did so at the latest session of the human rights dialogue in October. We have raised specific concerns about the destruction of churches and temples in Wenzhou. We will address again the whole issue of freedom of religious belief most strongly during the next round of the high level UK/China human rights dialogue in Beijing between 12–14 February.