Cook speaks of human rights progress in China

The British Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, has said that China was beginning to respond to western concerns over human rights, and that he hoped there would be an early release of some of the country's political detainees.

He was speaking in Beijing after talks on human rights with President Jiang Zemin and other Chinese leaders.

Mr Cook said he'd pressed for more information about twelve imprisoned dissidents whose cases have been pressed by the Eurpopean Union.

One of them is Wang Dan, a leader of the pro-democracy protests in 1989 who is now serving an eleven-year prison sentence.

Earlier, China said it was inviting the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, Mary Robinson, to visit.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service