Vol. 451 No. 5
32 Miss Quill asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will protest to China in regard to the continuing oppression to the Tibetan people; and if he will request China to withdraw from their forceable occupation of Tibet. [6861/95]
I informed this House in answer to a parliamentary question on 18 October that, during my visit to China last September, I met vice-President and Foreign Minister Qian Qichen and raised with him the question of human rights and the treatment of prisoners in Tibet.
The Irish delegation to the UN Commission on Human Rights — CHR — which took place in Geneva from 30 January to 10 March 1995 played an active role in drafting a proposed resolution on Human Rights in China and ensured that appropriate reference to the situation in Tibet was included in the text. The draft resolution, which Ireland co-sponsored, highlighted how intolerable is the situation for Tibetans, for their ethnic identity, their religious freedom and their own language and culture.
It is significant that this year the CHR came much closer to adopting the draft resolution than at previous sessions. As in previous years, China moved a no-action motion but this was the first year in which it was unsuccessful. Members of the EU voted against China's no-action motion. As a result, the draft resolution was taken and it was defeated by only a single vote. China always campaigns strongly against the tabling of this draft resolution. I know that this outcome constitutes an important message from the international community to the Chinese Government concerning its treatment of the people of Tibet.
Representatives of EU embassies in Beijing visited Tibet last November and made clear EU concerns about the human rights situation there. They once again raised with the authorities the list of prisoners which had been presented by the EU ambassadors when they visited Tibet in May 1993 and also handed over a list of 14 nuns who had been arrested. I understand that a small number of Tibetian political prisoners have been released but the situation of political prisoners in Tibet remains an issue of great concern.
