Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on freedom of religion in Tibet.

The UK Government is concerned about human rights violations in Tibet. These include restrictions on freedom of religion or belief and on freedom of assembly and association, reports of forced labour, and reports that boarding schools are being used to assimilate Tibetan children into Han culture.

We consistently raise human rights issues with the Chinese authorities, including in relation to Tibet. I raised human rights during my visit to China in April, and the Foreign Secretary did so in a meeting in February with China's Foreign Minister. We also regularly raise Tibet in multilateral fora, including in January at China's Universal Periodic Review, and in March as part of our Item 4 statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council.