Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions his Department has had with international partners on civil liberties in Hong Kong.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues to act as a convening power, bringing together our international partners to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out violations of their rights and freedoms, and to hold China to its international obligations. That includes through the G7 and the Media Freedom Coalition. On 20 March, the UK raised Hong Kong's new national security legislation (Article 23) at the UN Human Rights Council, setting out our view that it will further erode rights and freedoms in the city.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to visit China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We will confirm Ministerial travel in the usual way.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment his Department has made of the human rights situation in Lhasa.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are concerned about human rights violations in Lhasa and Tibet more widely, including restrictions on freedom of religion or belief and on freedom of assembly and association, reports of forced labour, and reports that boarding schools are being used to assimilate Tibetan children into Han culture.
The UK Government consistently raises human rights issues with the Chinese authorities - the Foreign Secretary did so in February in a meeting with China's Foreign Minister. We also regularly raise Tibet in multilateral fora, for example, in January at China's Universal Periodic Review, and on 20 March as part of our Item 4 statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether Ministers in his Department have plans to meet with Hong Kong activists (a) Nathan Law, (b) Finn Lau and (c) Christopher Mung.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We will not tolerate any attempt by any foreign power to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK. Officials in Hong Kong, Beijing and London have raised the issuing of arrest warrants and bounties for these individuals with the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities. As the Foreign Secretary said on 14 December, the Hong Kong Police are deliberately targeting individuals for exercising their right to freedom of expression. We have called for the repeal of the National Security Law and continue to make clear our strong objections, including to its extraterritorial reach. That extends to the decisions by the Hong Kong Police to issue arrest warrants and bounties for activists. We call on Beijing to repeal the National Security Law and end its persecution of political activists.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his European Union counterparts on the July 2023 summit declaration between the European Union and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States that referred to the Falklands Islands as Islas Malvinas.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We engage in multilateral and bilateral fora, including with the European Union and its Member States, in support of the Falkland Islanders' right of self-determination. Following publication of the EU - Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) Summit communiqué, the EU publicly clarified their position has not changed. We will, in all fora at which the UK is present, continue to insist on the use of the name that the Islanders recognise and wish to use: the Falkland Islands. This reflects the UK's unequivocal commitment to upholding the Falkland Islanders' right of self-determination, including in our discussions with the EU and its Member States.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make it his policy to support religious self-governance for Tibetan Buddhists.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The freedom to practice, change or share one's faith or belief without discrimination is a human right that all people, including Tibetan Buddhists, should enjoy. The UK Government will continue to do all that we can to encourage freedoms of religious and cultural expression in Tibet and across China. For example, we view the appointment of the next Dalai Lama as a matter for the relevant religious authorities to decide in line with those freedoms of religion and belief.
The UK Government consistently raises human rights issues with the Chinese authorities - the Foreign Secretary did so in February with China's Foreign Minister. We also regularly raise Tibet in multilateral fora, for example, in January at China's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he is taking steps to ensure that Jimmy Lai receives regular consular access.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Ministers and officials continue to raise Mr Jimmy Lai's case at the highest levels with the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities and have consistently requested consular access which has been denied by the Hong Kong prison authorities. The Foreign Secretary reiterated his call for Mr Lai's release during his meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference on the 16 February.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the relationship between India and China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has an independent relationship with both India and China. Relations between these two countries are a matter for their governments to progress and manage through peaceful means. The UK has no direct role.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of progress towards implementing the Sinjar agreement in Iraq.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Progress towards implementing the Sinjar Agreement has been hindered by a number of factors, including tensions between the Government of Iraq and the Kurdistan Regional Government and the extremely complex politics of the region. We encourage the governments to agree a candidate to appoint as mayor of Sinjar, an important and necessary step to improve the security situation and lives of people living there. The UK continues to work with international partners on this issue.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with his Chinese counterpart on (a) ending transnational repression of and (b) the removal of bounties placed on Hong Kong pro-democracy activists living in the UK.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to make clear with the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities our strong objection to the National Security Law, and attempts to apply it extraterritorially. That extends to the decisions by the Hong Kong National Security Police to issue arrest warrants and bounties for activists living in the UK in 2023. We will not tolerate any attempts to intimidate, harass or harm individuals or communities in the UK. On 17 December, the Foreign Secretary called on the Chinese authorities to repeal the National Security Law and end the prosecution of all individuals charged under it. On 16 February the Foreign Secretary met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference and unambiguously set out the UK's position across a number of areas of disagreement, including on Hong Kong. The National Security Law has no authority in the UK and we have no active extradition agreement with Hong Kong or China.