The Bishop of St Albans, Dr Alan Smith, has condemned the \u201cwide range of human-rights abuses\u201d committed in China against Christians and other religious groups.<\/p>\n
He was speaking in a debate that he initiated in the Grand Committee of the House of Lords on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Dr Smith said that he had been almost reluctant to call the debate because of his long-held admiration for China and its people. \u201cYet I feel I cannot remain silent in the face of such a wide range of human-rights abuses,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
There was \u201ca vast cultural gulf\u201d between the UK and China, he continued, which was laid bare in President Xi\u2019s speech last month to the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party, in which the President had said: \u201cWe will . . . continue to take the correct and distinctively Chinese approach to handling ethnic affairs. . . We will remain committed to the principle that religions in China must be Chinese in orientation and provide active guidance to religions so that they can adapt to socialist society.\u201d<\/p>\n