Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Chinese Government on reports that the freedom and rights of religious citizens are being restricted.

We remain deeply concerned about the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief in China. The freedom to practice, change or share ones faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. We believe that societies which aim to guarantee freedom of religion or belief are more stable, prosperous and more resilient against violent extremism.

We regularly raise these concerns with the Chinese Government. I raised the situation in Xinjiang, where amongst other things we have serious concerns about restrictions on freedom of religion or belief, during my visit to China in late July. The Foreign Secretary also raised our concerns about Xinjiang during his visit to China on 30 July.

More broadly, we raised restrictions on freedom of religion or belief with the Chinese authorities at the UK/China Human Rights Dialogue which took place in Beijing in June 2017, and in our statement at the UN Human Rights Council on 27 June 2018.

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