Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his counterparts in the People’s Republic of China on detentions of Buddhists in Tibet and across China.

The environment for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) across China is restrictive, which includes the persecution of Buddhists.

We work within international organisations and networks to promote and protect FoRB for all where it is threatened, including the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.

We coordinate with partners to draw international attention to the human rights situation in Tibet, most recently on 20 May 2023 in the G7 Leaders' Communique, and in March 2023, as part of our Item 4 statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC).

More generally, we regularly raise the human rights situation in China directly with the Chinese authorities at the highest levels. The Foreign Secretary did so in a meeting with the Chinese Vice President in May 2023.