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Human Rights
2. Mr. Hutton: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about the Government's policy on human rights. [1159]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Tony Lloyd): We have made it clear that human rights will be a central element of this Government's foreign policy. As set out by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary in the mission statement of 12 May, we shall work through international forums and bilateral relationships to spread the values of human rights, civil liberties and democracy that we demand for ourselves.
Mr. Hutton: I congratulate my hon. Friend on his appointment, and welcome the new emphasis that the Government are placing on promoting human rights around the world. I think that it will be strongly supported by the British people.
Does my hon. Friend agree that a significant step towards protecting human rights would be the establishment of a permanent international criminal court with extensive jurisdiction to try cases involving serious human rights abuses? What measures will the Government take in that regard?
Mr. Lloyd:
I thank my hon. Friend for his kind remarks. We appreciate the warm reception that the changed policy on human rights has received not just in this country, but throughout the world.
We support the proposal for an international criminal court, not only in principle but in practice. We intend to participate actively in the work of the preparatory
committee, and in the other meetings to negotiate a statute for the court. We strongly support the idea of holding a diplomatic conference in 1998 to establish that court. We intend to ensure that any doubts that have existed in the past about the British Government's commitment will be dispelled by this Government: we want an effective international criminal court.
Mr. John M. Taylor:
Would the Minister be sympathetic to the incorporation of the European convention on human rights into domestic law?
Mr. Lloyd:
Yes, we would be sympathetic to that.
Mrs. Clwyd:
May I say how glad I am to see my hon. Friend and the rest of the foreign affairs team on the Front Bench, and how delighted we are that human rights has been put at the front of the Department's agenda?
Given the continuing evidence that arms exports to Indonesia are being used for internal repression, what consideration has my hon. Friend given to banning arms exports to Indonesia outright?
Mr. Lloyd:
We have serious concerns about human rights in Indonesia. One of the first actions of my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary and my hon. Friend the Minister of State was to ask for an investigation of the events in Bandung and Jakarta.
My hon. Friend will know that, on 22 May, my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary announced that the Government would conduct a review of the mechanics and the detailed criteria used in the issuing of licences for exports of conventional arms. Perhaps my hon. Friend will forgive me if I say that it would be practically premature for us to give any specific country-by-country response at this stage.
Dr. Fox:
I, too, welcome the Minister to his post. Does he agree with the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the last Government were right to export Hawk aircraft to Indonesia?
Mr. Lloyd:
I can only repeat that, while we make it clear that the human rights dimension is an important part of the way in which we shall consider applications for export licences, the review announced by my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary has not yet been completed, although it will be completed very rapidly. Until that time, it would be foolish for us to make any further comment.
3. Mr. Ronnie Campbell:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement about UK relations with China. [1160]
13. Sir Archie Hamilton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what are the implications of the Government's human rights stance for trade relations with China. [1170]
The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Mr. Derek Fatchett):
China has emerged as a major power with a rapidly growing economy. That, in turn, will lead to internal change within Chinese society. We want to open a new chapter of more constructive relations with China across the board, addressing both trade and more difficult issues such as human rights. Transparency and the rule of law are important both on human rights grounds and as a basis for sound commercial relations.
Mr. Campbell:
I thank my hon. Friend for his reply. In the recent past, our European partners have had better relationships with China. Does my hon. Friend envisage any stumbling blocks in the future? Can the handover of Hong Kong become a bridge towards a better relationship with China, rather than the stumbling block that it has constituted in the past?
Mr. Fatchett:
My hon. Friend is right to say that it is important to open a new chapter in our relations with China. We are all keen to make a success of the handover of Hong Kong, and to ensure that it constitutes a bridge between our two countries rather than a barrier; but, at the same time, we must address difficult and important issues with China. The human rights agenda will be important to us, and I can tell my hon. Friend that my right hon. Friend and I have already raised our concerns about human rights in our meetings with the ambassador.
Sir Archie Hamilton:
Does the Minister agree that there is a balance between trade and human rights, and that, if he presses the human rights case too hard, we shall lose in trade? What are the implications of that for British jobs?
Mr. Fatchett:
I agree with the right hon. Gentleman that there is a balance, but it is not a question of either/or. We must be concerned about human rights, as we are concerned about developing trade, and we can use the opportunities of trade to expand the human rights agenda. I am a little surprised, however, that the right hon. Gentleman finds time to lecture the Government on their record of trade with China, when the previous Government did not pay much regard to the human rights agenda. Their trade performance with China was considerably worse than that of other countries, which gave much more priority to the human rights agenda.
Mr. MacShane:
I welcome my hon. Friend to his post and invite him to take no notice of lectures on human rights from the Conservatives, whose performance in office was an international scandal.
On China, may I invite my hon. Friend to continue to exert pressure for the release of Wei Jing Sheng, the distinguished democracy wall writer, often called the Sakharov of China, whose continued imprisonment for his writings remains very much a stone in the shoe of amicable relations between China and our and other democratic countries?
Mr. Fatchett:
I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his opening comments and for the comments that he made about the right hon. Member for Epsom and Ewell (Sir A. Hamilton). I must say that it is a pleasure to see
My hon. Friend draws attention to an important case in China. I give my hon. Friend a clear commitment that, on individual cases and in general, we shall continue to press the human rights agenda. It is important to us, and my hon. Friend will see the change in the flavour of the Government's approach.
Mr. Wilkinson:
Will the hon. Gentleman make certain that, in all Her Majesty's Government's dealings with China, the issue of Tibet is not forgotten and rolled under the carpet? Is it not the case that the systematic abuse of human rights and of the people of Tibet for very many years by the Chinese authorities has seriously prejudiced the view that people in the free world hold of the People's Republic of China, and that, in the long term, it must be detrimental to trading relations also unless the authorities do something to improve human rights in Tibet?
Mr. Fatchett:
I share the hon. Gentleman's concerns. We also appreciate the important human rights agenda in relation to Tibet; the hon. Gentleman made those points with great force. In the meetings that my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State and I have had individually with the ambassador, the issue of human rights has been raised, and Tibet is on that agenda.
Mr. Barry Jones:
How will the Ministers assist the exports into the republic of the products of British Aerospace and Airbus Industrie, in Europe? Does my hon. Friend agree that aerospace is one of our biggest industries, using skilled labour, and that there is a huge market in the republic?
Mr. Fatchett:
My hon. Friend is correct to point out the importance of raising our trade profile with China. As he knows from my earlier response, we have not performed as well in China as we have other countries, and there is a clear lesson to be learnt from the failures of the previous Government in that regard. We shall build up a much more positive relationship with China.
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