Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what estimate he has made of the number of journalists detained in China; and what steps he is taking to support media freedom in that country.

There are severe restrictions on media freedom in China, and the situation for journalists is deteriorating. The Government notes Reporters Without Borders' credible estimate that 109 journalists and media workers are currently detained by China.

The Government supports media freedom and the right of journalists to do their job. We consistently raise our concerns bilaterally and multilaterally. For example, at China's Universal Periodic Review in January we called on China to cease restrictions on civil society and independent media, and raised the cases of Sophia Huang Xueqin and Zhang Zhan, among others. I raised human rights concerns with my counterparts during my visit to China in April, and the Foreign Secretary did so when he met China's Foreign Minister in February. British diplomats have also attempted to attend trials of civilian journalists and rights activists in China to demonstrate support.