Statement from the Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt in response to a report by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China on media freedom.
Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said:
I am concerned by the findings in the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China report about media freedoms and the deteriorating situation for journalists in China.
Its publication coincides with the sentencing of journalist Liu Feiyue, one of over 60 journalists currently detained in China.
The UK is also concerned about the sentencing of Wang Quanzhang, a lawyer whose case I raised with Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi last July. He has spent the last three and a half years in pre-trial detention, much of that time incommunicado.
We urge the Chinese government to ensure fundamental civil and political rights are protected, in line with China’s constitution and its international commitments.