Chinese Government Sanctions on UK Citizens

Janet Daby Excerpts

Tuesday 13th April 2021 Commons Chamber

[Nigel Adams]

My hon. Friend speaks with a great deal of experience on China. It is the case that China has different values from the United Kingdom, and as I have said, its increased international assertiveness is the most significant geo-political shift in recent years. A recent publication on international relations highlights that we will do more to adapt to China’s growing impact. We need to manage those disagreements, defend our values, but co-operate where those interests align. That includes pursuing the positives. As the former Foreign Secretary William Hague pointed out, this is a difficult balancing act, but we must pursue a positive economic relationship. That includes tackling all sorts of other challenges, but we have to call out China when it commits human rights violations. In great contrast to the sanctions that China has placed on right hon. and hon. Members, the sanctions that we issued, alongside our international partners, were thought out. They took some time to deliver, but they had a legal basis to them, contrary to the recent sanctions on our colleagues that we have seen from China.

[Janet Daby (Lewisham East) (Lab) [V]]

I, too, put on record my thanks to Mr Speaker for granting this Urgent Question. The Foreign Secretary described what is happening in Xinjiang as

“barbarism we had hoped was lost to another era”—[Official Report, 12 January 2021; Vol. 687, c. 160.]

The growing evidence of Uyghur Muslims being repeatedly violated and used as slaves to farm cotton is indeed barbaric. When will the House be presented with Government legislation to firm up section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, so that all companies have a responsibility to prove that their supply chains are free from forced labour, and to reinforce sanctions for non-compliance?

[Nigel Adams]

I thank the hon. Lady for her question and for her support of the Government policy that will come forward to the House. Evidence of the scale and severity of the human rights violations being perpetrated in Xinjiang against the Uyghur people is far reaching and, as I am sure she will agree, paints a truly harrowing picture. We are looking forward to hearing about further measures, but hon. Members should be in no doubt that the Government will take action to ensure that slave labour is not used in any United Kingdom supply chains.