Annex 1
1. What progress has been made through the
Berne group process in co-ordinating the human rights dialogues
of EU countries with China?
The UK strongly supports closer co-operation
between Berne Process partners on human rights in China as a mechanism
for reinforcing its bilateral efforts and those of the EU. We
believe that there is scope for more closely co-ordinating engagement
with China across the Berne Group, including on Dialogue themes
and demarches, in order to reinforce our messages and increase
the impact on human rights in China.
At the most recent meeting of the Berne Group
in December 2005, Partners agreed on a number of steps to enhance
co-operation in order to make engagement with China on human rights
more effective. This included greater information-sharing and
co-ordinated action.
The first joint Berne Process action on human
rights in China took place in March 2006. Members of the Berne
Group raised a number of individual cases of concern with the
Chinese government. On behalf of the Group, the UK is undertaking
on-going work to compile a database of individual cases of concern,
using information supplied by Partners. The database includes
details of when cases have been raised by individual Partners,
and the response received. The aim is to increase the quality
of future case lists by creating a store of accurate information
which can be drawn upon by Partners in their bilateral Human Rights
Dialogues with China. We see these actions as good examples of
practical co-operation between the Berne Process Group.
The next meeting of the Berne Process will take
place on 21-22 June in Berne. Further co-operation between Berne
Process Partners will be discussed in more depth at this meeting.
Background
The Berne Process is a regular meeting of those
countries which have a bilateral human rights dialogue with China.
This includes the UK, US, Canada, Switzerland, Hungary, Norway,
the EU and Australia. The meetings began as a mechanism for sharing
information on Chinese dialogues and case lists amongst concerned
countries. But against the background of a deteriorating human
rights situation in China, there has been increased interest in
exploring ways of enhancing co-operation between Partners to make
their respective Dialogues and broader human rights engagement
with China more effective. There have been 8 meetings of the Berne
Process Group to date.
2. How are business promotion activities
divided between UKTI, CBBC and the BCCC?
UK Trade and Investment (UKTI), the China Britain
Business Council (CBBC) and the British Chamber of Commerce in
China (BCCC) have different and complementary roles in supporting
UK business in the China market. UKTI and the CBBC work in partnership
to provide a range of business promotion activities for UK companies.
These activities are divided between UKTI and CBBC by way of a
Service Level Agreement between the two parties. This arrangement
enables UKTI to draw on the CBBC's organisational flexibility,
expertise and resource in China (and UK) to deliver a wide service
in a cost-effective manner. CBBC has nine offices in China, seven
in cities where there is no British diplomatic representation.
CBBC also provides a range of independent services for UK business.
The BCCC is primarily a knowledge accumulation
and sharing organisation through its provision of connectivity
and networking opportunities for its membership. The Chamber has
a small paid staff and no desire or facility to replicate the
work of the CBBC and UKTI.
3. How is Government strategy on China coordinated
between Whitehall departments?
The FCO takes the lead in developing UK policy
towards China and for ensuring that the work of other groups such
as the China and Asian Task Forces are reflected in broader strategy.
The Government's strategy on China as a whole is co-ordinated
by the Cabinet Office. It arranges meetings of the Whitehall China
officials group, which enables individual Government departments
to feed in their views on the Whitehall China strategy and to
update others and contribute towards a cross-Government detailed
action plan on China.
4. Please list the UK diplomatic posts and
resources in China and Taiwan and explain how these are projected
to change over the period of the FCO Strategy.
The current figures for UK based and locally
employed staff in China are attached below. The FCO is in the
process of shifting resources to China to meet the challenge of
its economic and political emergence. We expect total staff numbers
to increase over the next five years particularly in key priority
areasEconomic, Energy and Environment sections. Many of
these staff will be seconded from other Whitehall departments.
We also expect to enhance the presence of UKTI and UKVisas. There
are no current plans to open new Consulates General in China as
we believe resources are better deployed from existing sites.
FULL-TIME EQUIVALENT POSITIONS: JUNE 2006
Country | Post
| FCO UK
Based | FCO Local
Staff
| OGD UK
Based | OGD Local
Staff
|
China | Beijing | 73
| 180 | 27 | 118
|
China | Chongqing | 9
| 30 | 0 | 0 |
China | Guangzhou | 18
| 49 | 0 | 0 |
China | HongKong | 33
| 122 | 5 | 2 |
China | Shanghai | 19
| 56 | 1 | 2 |
| | |
| | |
There are currently nine UK based staff and 42 locally based
staff at the British Trade and Cultural Office (BTCO) in Taipei.
Two locally engaged staff are also based at the BTCO in Kaohsiung.
There are no current plans to change these staffing numbers over
the next few years.
5. Has the UK signed up to participate in Expo 2010 in
Shanghai and if not, why not?
We are considering the Chinese government's formal invitation
to participate in the Shanghai Expo 2010. As part of that process
we are looking at how UK participation might be funded and we
are discussing this with a wide range of possible stakeholders
including government departments, other parts of the public sector,
and many private sector companies.
6. How does the EU implement its China strategy on the
ground?
The EU is developing wide-ranging strategy in China. Both
sides are committed to strengthening and focusing their relationship
through a new Partnership and Co-operation Agreement (PCAsometimes
referred to as the Framework Agreement), which will provide the
framework for a more balanced, mature and reciprocal strategic
partnership. The PCA will help to reinforce key strands of the
EU-China bilateral relationship (eg encouraging regulatory and
economic reform in China, promoting rule of law and governance)
and support further collaboration on global issues (eg environment
and climate change, sustainable development, energy security co-operation).
UK is encouraging the EU to take a long-term strategic approach
to China. The EU-China Summit in Beijing in September 2005 and
the first EU-China Strategic Dialogue, which took place in London
in December 2005 highlighted considerable common ground and a
desire to co-operate in a wide variety of areas. The EU has made
clear the need for confidence building, greater transparency and
for China to use its influence with problem states to bring about
change. The next meeting of the EU-China Strategic Dialogue will
take place in Beijing on 6 June and the next Summit in Helsinki
in September.
The Partnership on Climate Change agreed at last year's EU-China
Summit is already bringing the Chinese into meaningful discussion
with the EU, especially in encouraging them to shift onto a low
carbon path. The Near Zero Emissions Coal Initiative (agreed as
part of the Partnership), and which the UK has taken a leading
role in, aims to demonstrate coal fired power generation with
carbon capture and storage technology in China by 2020.
The EU also continues to engage China on Human Rights, with
the last EU-China HR Dialogue taking place in May 2006 in Vienna.
In terms of practical assistance, the EU's Human Rights Small
Projects Facility is managed directly by the Delegation of the
European Commission in China and aims at supporting small-scale
actions. Three calls for proposals have been launched. The first
one resulted in 18 projects funded (all projects completed) and
the second one in three projects funded. The evaluation process
for the third Call for Proposals is on-going. Priority areas included
protection of workers rights, participation of people in public
policy issues, anti-discrimination (HIV/AIDS), rights protection
of National Minorities, freedom of expression, and economic, social
and cultural rights. The on-going projects focus on migrant worker's
rights protection, gender discrimination in the working environment
and anti-discrimination action for people affected by or living
with HIV/AIDS. One example of EU activity includes a project designed
to raise awareness of China's international obligations under
the Convention Against Torture (CAT), provide an introduction
to the Optional Protocol and stimulate debate about the prevalence
of torture in China. Another is the EU-China Legal Seminar, which
is essentially a forum for EU/Chinese academics to exchange views
on human rights and rule of law issues.
The UK is also encouraging the EU to engage positively on
trade issues directly with the Chinese. China seeks Market Economy
Status (MES), but this depends on them meeting the criteria. The
EU-China Working Group on MES last met on 11 May. The EU and China
share the aim of completing the Doha Development Agenda (DDA)
negotiations and the EU is encouraging the Chinese to play a more
prominent role in the negotiations. Another EU-China Working Group
deals with IPR issues and there is now a dedicated IPR Official
based at the European Commission delegation in Beijing, running
a Euro 12m IPR project covering enforcement issues.
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