Czechs to engage China in human rights dialogue

Czech European Affairs Minister Alexandr Vondra met with visiting Chinese State Councillor Hua Jianmin on Monday. At a news conference following the meeting, Mr Vondra said that the Czech Republic plans to engage China in a dialogue on human rights during the Czech presidency of the EU. Alexandr Vondra said that China was a country with “an improving human rights situation” but progress in this area is slow. According to the Czech European Affairs Minister, the Czech Republic has several concrete ideas how to foster human rights in China. The Czech Republic will assume the EU presidency in January 2009, a year which will mark 20 years since the fall of communism and the country’s return to democracy.