To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what reports she has received on the recent execution of the three religious leaders Mr. Xu Shuangfu, Mr. Li Maoxing and Mr. Wang Jun in China in October; and if she will make a statement. (104743)

The Government understands that Xu Shuangfu, Li Maoxing and Wang Jun were executed in China on 22 November 2006 and that their families and lawyers were notified of their execution on 29 November 2006. The Chinese Government have stated that they were executed for criminal activities, not their religious beliefs. The Government do not take a position on the nature of the Three Grades organisation. We are concerned at reports that the defendants were subjected to torture and that the trial did not respect international fair trial standards. We continue to lobby the Chinese Government to limit, and ultimately abolish, its use of the death penalty, to combat torture and to meet international fair trial standards. Most recently, my noble and learned Friend the Lord Chancellor raised the death penalty with the Chairman of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference on 24 October 2006.