German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin (Social...

German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin (Social Democratic Party of Germany) vehemently rejected criticism of the government's human rights policy towards China. Referring to the state visit by China's President Jiang Zemin, the minister defended the so-called dialogue on the rule of law between the two governments in an interview for Deutschlandfunk. Accusations that human rights issues like the death penalty in China or freedom of religion and opinion are not discussed publicly are "simply wrong".
Of course, she demanded the abolition of the death sentence in China, just like in other countries, Daeubler-Gmelin stressed. The cases mentioned to her by human rights organizations will "naturally" be discussed with the Chinese side.