30th April 2003
To the Chairman of French Falun Gong Association
Dear Sir,
I read your letter to the Austrian Embassy in Paris dated
April 12th, in which you mentioned facts about Falun Gong practitioners being
persecuted in China. In response to this, please let me make a declaration.
The Austrian Foreign Ministry is very clear about the
seriousness of the situation of Falun Gong practitioners in China, and we share
your concern on this matter.
At the level of the European Union, the Sino-European Human
Rights Council regularly hold meetings to discuss the human rights situation in
China. Here, the member countries of the EU discuss and devise a mutual
approach. The details mentioned in your letter have often been discussed with
China during the annual human rights meeting. As well as this, the EU has
expressed its concern over this issue in the Declaration on World Human Rights
at the last meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission.
The Austrian government has actively participated in this
discussion, and is severely concerned with China's human rights situation; we
are also actively cooperating with the EU to improve the general human rights
situation, and in this way the situation of Falun Gong practitioners in China
will be improved as well.
Please accept my great respect!
Georg Mautner--Markhof
Director
Department of Human Rights
Austrian Foreign Ministry
Source: http://www.clearharmony.net/articles/200305/12653.html