Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Chinese government on the promotion of Christianity in China.

Freedom of religion or belief is a human rights priority anchored in the Government’s manifesto. We regularly urge governments around the world to protect the right of all individuals, including Christians, to practise their religion or belief free from persecution or discrimination.

We remain concerned by all restrictions to freedom of religion or belief in China, including restrictions against Christianity. We are aware of reports that some church members have been harassed or detained, and that a number of churches in Zhejiang Province in particular have been forced to remove their crosses, close or be destroyed.

We raised these, and our broad range of concerns around religious freedom, directly with Chinese officials during the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue in April this year. We have also highlighted them publicly in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy (www.hrdreport.fco.gov.uk).