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Foreign Office Issues Serious Concerns over China's Human Rights

by Christina 123 | January 17, 2010 at 12:14 pm

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The execution in China in December 2009 of a man said to be seriously mentally ill, Akmal Shaikh, 53, who ran a taxi cab firm in north London, caused a serious diplomatic rift between the UK and China, with Prime Minister Gordon Brown twice summoning the ambassador for China to Downing Street for a dressing down, over China repeatedly ignoring the Prime Minister's demands for clemency.

On Wednesday a Foreign Office statement expressed further "serious concerns" over the sentencing of Tibetan filmaker, Dhondup Wangchen and human rights defender, Liu Xiaobo.

Ivan Lewis in the statement denounced the lack of "freedom of expression" in China.

Britain on Wednesday voiced "serious concerns" about human rights in China over the sentencing of leading dissidents, two weeks after Beijing's execution of a mentally ill Briton chilled relations.

A Foreign Office statement referred to Dhondup Wangchen, a Tibetan filmmaker jailed for six years for subversion according to his family, and leading Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, who was sentenced to 11 years on the same charge.

"The verdict (on Wangchen), like that of prominent human rights defender Liu Xiaobo, raises serious concerns about the right to freedom of expression in China," said Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis in the statement.

"I urge the Chinese government to meet its international human rights obligations and respect constitutional guarantees on freedom of expression.

"International fair trial standards were not met in these cases," he said.