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23 February 2001



United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson is traveling to Beijing from 24 to 26 February to launch her Office’s programme of cooperation with China.

In China the High Commissioner will take part in a workshop on the punishment of minor crimes, the first of a series of activities envisaged under an agreement, or Memorandum of Understanding, concluded with China regarding technical cooperation in human rights. Mrs. Robinson will also discuss with Chinese authorities the next immediate steps in the implementation of the MOU and raise a number of specific human rights issues. Meetings are scheduled with Tang Jiaxuan, Minister of Foreign Affairs; Zhang Fu-Sen, Minister of Justice, and Wang Guangya, Vice Foreign Minister.

From Beijing the High Commissioner will travel to Bangkok, Thailand, to participate in the ninth Workshop on Asia-Pacific Regional Cooperation in the Area of Human Rights. This is the ninth such meeting the Office of the High Commissioner has organized in the region since 1990. Previous workshops have taken place in Manila (1990), Jakarta (1993), Seoul (1994), Katmandu (1996), Amman (1997), Tehran (1998), New Dehli (1999) and Beijing (2000). The intergovernmental meetings have become a key forum for discussion of human rights initiatives in the region.


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