Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Chinese policy on minorities on Tibetan (a) language and (b) culture.

The UK stands firm on human rights in China, including in Tibet. We continue to encourage respect for freedom of religion or belief, cultural expression and linguistic rights in Tibet and across China, and we raise this directly with the Chinese authorities at senior levels.

We note the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' concerns that China's Law on Promoting Ethnic Unity and Progress may further restrict the rights and freedoms of ethnic minorities. The law also risks undermining Tibetans' ability to use the Tibetan language freely and to preserve and develop their cultural heritage. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has raised these concerns with Chinese officials, stressing the importance of ensuring that the law does not harm the rights of ethnic minority communities and is not applied extraterritorially.