Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the concrete, systemic changes in China which can be attributed to the existence of the EU-China human rights dialogue; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13681/05]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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As stated previously on many occasions, the Government continues to take concerns about human rights in China very seriously. We have an ongoing dialogue with the Chinese authorities at both the national and the European Union level. Human rights issues are on the agenda of all bilateral meetings with senior Chinese leaders.

The EU-China human rights dialogue, HRD, established in 1996, is the agreed formal framework through which the EU raises its concerns with China about individual human rights cases and more general issues, such as the protection of freedom of religion and expression. The EU carried out an evaluation of the HRD in 2004. On 11 October 2004, the External Relations Council welcomed this evaluation and agreed that a positive trend could be observed, in terms of improvements in the rule of law and respect for economic rights as well as the decline in influence of the state on the daily life of citizens in China. The Council acknowledged that China had made considerable progress over the past decade in its socioeconomic development and economic freedom for ordinary citizens. It also welcomed steps taken by China towards strengthening the rule of law and moves to enhance co-operation with UN human rights mechanisms.

However, the Council expressed concern about continuing violations of human rights, such as freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly and association. The Council deplored the continued widespread application of the death penalty, as well as the persistence of torture. The Council also noted the scope for improving concrete outcomes of the dialogue and, in this regard, endorsed a number of recommendations regarding the modalities of the dialogue, including enlarging the scope of participation and increasing coherence between dialogue and seminars.

The most recent round of the HRD took place in Luxembourg on 24 and 25 February 2005. The EU deemed this an open and constructive dialogue. In line with China's undertaking to upgrade its presence at the HRD, China was represented on that occasion at director-general level.

A number of concrete and positive first steps have taken place in China recently. In addition to the inclusion of a specific clause on human rights in the Chinese constitution, another noteworthy constitutional amendment in 2004 was the insertion of a constitutional clause stating that private property is inviolable. China has also recently announced that it will undertake reform of its death penalty review system, which will allow its supreme court to review all cases where the death penalty is imposed.

In 2001 China ratified the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and, in 2003, in line with reporting requirements under the covenant, it submitted its first report to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The report is due to be considered by the committee in May 2005. Together with our EU partners, the Government will continue to encourage the Chinese authorities to respect fully the human rights of all citizens.