Chinese Government Sanctions on UK Citizens
Debate between Geraint Davies and Nigel Adams(3 years, 7 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
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Nigel Adams
My hon. Friend is spot on. That would help to clear up a lot of these issues. The Foreign Secretary has made it clear that the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights or another independent fact-finding body must be given unfettered access to Xinjiang to check the facts. We have called for this repeatedly in joint statements and national statements at the UN. It is vital that China allows such access without delay. If, as China claims, these allegations are fabrications and falsehoods, how can it object to granting access?
Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op) [V]
China sees the UK Government refusal to allow our courts and Parliaments to make judgments about genocide in relation to trade agreements as a sign of weakness, and its sanctions against UK citizens is the latest move to show that it will suppress democracy, abuse human rights and flout the rule of law. Since bullies only respond to strength, will the Government now use their chairing of COP26 and the G7 to bring unity in our trade and financial agreements to strongly support our shared values and our shared environment?
Nigel Adams
The hon. Gentleman raises a point about genocide that I have answered on previous questions. We are absolutely committed to ensuring that our trade policy is consistent with our international obligations, and it is absolutely clear that more trade does not have to come at the expense of human rights. We have a high level of ambition for our trade and investment partnership with China, but it should not come at the expense of human rights.
Treatment of Uyghur Women: Xinjiang Detention Camps
Debate between Geraint Davies and Nigel Adams(3 years, 9 months ago)
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Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Nigel Adams
My hon. Friend talks about what we are doing internationally, which is really important. We have taken a leading international role, and the impact of our diplomacy is reflected in the growing number of countries that have joined our statements. We will continue to try to get the widest caucus of support, to ensure that measures brought forward hold China to account, as long as they are as effective as possible. We will continue to work with international partners, including Muslim and Arab countries and those in the region, as well as the traditional Five Eyes and European partners, to try to expand this caucus of like-minded states.
Geraint Davies (Swansea West) (Lab/Co-op) [V]
Given that the evidence of industrial-scale human rights abuse, including mass rape, torture and cultural genocide, is incontrovertible and known to the Chinese Government and the Chinese President, will the Government now give the UK courts the power to judge genocide; instruct our industries to ensure that we source our cotton not from the slave trade of Xinjiang but from democracies such as India; and instruct our pension funds and institutions not to invest in companies that are complicit in abuse, including surveillance companies? After all, our actions will be judged; our words will be ignored.