China (Hansard, 29 March 2004)

§ Annabelle Ewing
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent representations have been made to the Chinese Government on(a) removing the death sentence imposed on the Buddhist religious leader. Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche and (b) allowing a fair retrial in the presence of international impartial observers. [164343]

§ Mr. Rammell
I raised the case with Assistant Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui in Beijing on 17 December 2003. He replied that Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche had had a fair and public trial and been sentenced in accordance with Chinese law. His case was also recently raised at the EU-China Human Rights Dialogue session held in Dublin on 26–27 February 2004.
We and our EU partners have raised in a series of demarches with the Chinese authorities our serious concerns about the way in which the trial was conducted and the lack of transparency. The latest EU demarche took place in Beijing on 4 February. In response, Mr. Wang Min, Deputy Director General of the Department of International Organisations and Conferences at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Tenzin Deleg Rinpoche was in good health and being held in Chuandong prison, Sichuan province.

§ Mr. Simmonds
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's policy on the Chinese arms embargo. [163806]

§ Mr. Rammell
The European Council on 12 December 2003 invited the General Affairs and External Relations Council (GAERC) to re-examine the EU Arms Embargo on China. The GAERC met on 26 January 2004 and decided to remit the issue to the relevant working groups for detailed examination. The issue will revert to a future GAERC.
The Government welcome the review and Ministers are currently considering the UK's position. In the meantime we will continue fully to implement the Arms Embargo.

§ Mr. Tynan
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he has had with(a) his Chinese counterpart and (b) the Chinese Ambassador to the Court of St. James regarding the use of Chinese airspace and refuelling facilities in respect of the transport of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile technology (i) to and (ii) from North Korea. [162223]

§ Mr. MacShane
We regularly discuss, at both ministerial and official level, a range of non-proliferation issues with the Government of China. Such discussions include the proliferation activities of North Korea, which are a matter of mutual concern.