China postpones UK-China Human Rights Dialogue PDF Print E-mail
04 January, 2010 International Campaign for Tibet

The UK-China Human Rights dialogue, which was due to take place on 11 January 2010, has been postponed by China.

It is not known whether the postponement is for logistical or political reasons. There have been tense exchanges between the British and Chinese government in recent weeks following China's execution of a British citizen shortly before the New Year.


Akmal Shaikh, aged 53, was executed after being convicted of drug smuggling despite claims he was mentally ill. Chinese authorities have also refused to return Shaikh's body to his British family, the BBC reporting that he was buried in an unmarked grave in Urumqi.

Following the execution, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he was "appalled" and British Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis told the Chinese Ambassador to the UK that "China had failed in its basic human rights responsibilities".

 

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