European Commission President's Response to Falun Gong Practitioner

EUROPEAN COMMISSION

DIRECTORATE GENERAL EXTERNAL RELATIONS

DIRECTORATE ASIA (EXCEPT JAPAN AND KOREA)

Director

9. 2. 2000

Brussels

D(2000)

Dear Mr. Dai,

The President of the European Commission, Mr. Romano Prodi, has asked me to reply to your letter of 8 January, in which you raised the situation of Falun Gong practitioners in China.

The European Union is committed to the promotion of human rights worldwide. We have established a formal human rights dialogue with the Chinese authorities, and we take every opportunity to raise our concerns with them. The EU has, on several occasions, expressed its concern about Falun Gong, and in particular about reports of torture and ill-treatment of arrested followers, and the harshness of sentences given to these members. The issue will also be raised during the next round of the EU-China human rights dialogue, on 25 February in Lisbon.

My services remain open to any information you might want to provide on the situation of Falun Gong members in China.

Yours sincerely

Emiliano Fossati