Lista Bonino MEP Olivier Dupuis tabled a parliamentary...

Lista Bonino MEP Olivier Dupuis tabled a parliamentary question on religious persecution in China in the European Parliament.
The following is the full text of the interrogation to the European Commission:
"For many decades, members of the so-called unofficial Catholic Church in the People's Republic of China have suffered from a policy of intolerance, abuse, harassment and repression at the hands of the Chinese authorities. The members of the Church refuse to join the Patriotic Association of Chinese Catholics. According to information published by FIDES, between 1983 and April 2002 this policy led to 129 deaths, around 24,000 arbitrary arrests and more than 20,000 cases of maltreatment and physical abuse. Members of Protestant Churches who refuse to join the Patriotic Association suffer the same fate.
More recently, numerous cases of persecution of the representatives and leaders of the unofficial Catholic Church have been reported. In the province of Hebei, near Beijing, where one million members of the unofficial Catholic Church live, and in particular in the diocese of Baoding, public security forces (police and local authorities) have in recent years arrested the following priests:
- Yibao GUO (detained in Xushui prison since April 2000);
- Genyou LU (arrested at the beginning of this year, sentenced to 3 years of hard labour and detained in Gaoyang prison);
- Zhenhe WANG (arrested on 14 April 1999, detained in Xushui prison);
- Zhengjun YIN (arrested on 27 January 2001, sentenced to 3 years of re-education through labour and detained in Baoding prison);
- Chunguang ZHANG (arrested at the beginning of 2001, detained in Xushui prison);
- Jianbo LI (arrested on 19 April 2001 in Xilinhaute in Southern Mongolia, known as Inner Mongolia);
-Yongxing PANG, Shunbao MA and Limao WANG (arrested on 7 July 2002 and sentenced to 3 years of hard labour for having "disrupted the social peace", they are detained at the Balizhuang labour camp in Baoding).
Moreover, the two bishops of the same diocese, Zhimin SU, 70, and his assistant Shuxin AN, 52, have not been seen since they were last arrested, in 1997 and 1996 respectively. Zhimin SU has already been deprived of his freedom for over 30 years (in prison, hard labour camps, and under house arrest). In the province of Hebei, 9 bishops have either disappeared, been placed under strict surveillance, or banned from carrying out pastoral duties.
Finally, six Catholics, laymen from Wenzhou in the province of Zhejiang, were arrested in the province of Hebei as they were on their way to Donglü, a popular place of pilgrimage in the diocese of Baoding. Accused of "illegal pilgrimage", they were only released after paying a fine of $3,850. Another twelve pilgrims who were unable to pay the fine are still being kept in Donglü prison.
What information does the Commission have on each of the above-mentioned cases? What steps has the Commission taken or does it plan to take to urge the Chinese authorities to proceed to the immediate and unconditional release of all the followers of the unofficial Catholic Church and to suppress all the criminal and administrative laws that undermine the freedom of religion in the People's Republic of China?"