Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the government of China and the Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom on the human rights situation in China, with respect to the arrest and detention of lawyers and campaigners.

I refer the noble Lord to my response of 24 July 2015 (HL1378). We remain concerned by reports of the detention of human rights lawyers since 9 July. We supported an EU press statement on the matter on 15 July, and since then have continued to express our concern. The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), personally raised the matter during his visit to China in August. Most recently, in a written statement to the Human Rights Council on 21 September, the UK urged the Chinese authorities to release these lawyers and to uphold the right to the peaceful expression of views.