Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has submitted any recent human rights reports to the UN on China's regulation of (a) religious education and (b) clergy training.

Chinese regulations on religious activity severely restrict religious and cultural expression in China. This Government stands firm on human rights, including the right to freedom of religion or belief.

We continue to uphold the right to freedom of religion or belief through our position at the UN, G7 and other multilateral fora. We have raised these concerns recently with the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights. We also joined an Australia-led joint statement at the UN General Assembly in October 2024 on freedoms in the Xinjiang and Tibetan regions, calling out the erosion of educational and religious rights and freedoms in China.