Letter from the Belgian Prime Minister

Brussels, June 6th 2002.

Dear Sir,

With great interest I took notice of your letter dating March 21st and the petition concerning the persecution of Falun Dafa practitioners.

I share your concern for the human rights situation in China. It is a matter which touches us all. Since a few years this issue takes an important place in the political dialogue we have on a bilateral level, but especially on a European level, with the People’s Republic of China.

I made use of my trip to China and my contacts with the Chinese authorities, to address this case and I insisted that the EU-Chinese human rights dialogue has to lead to concrete results. A suchlike dialogue is only meaningful when it results in substantial improvements.

I am convinced that we have to keep pressing the Chinese authorities to take this issue to heart. It is an issue that Belgium will keep following closely, together with its partners in the European Union.

The Belgian Prime Minister.