Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of Chinese citizens deployed by Russia in the war on Ukraine.
Answered by Stephen Doughty - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Russia's increasing recruitment of foreign nationals to fight in its illegal invasion of Ukraine demonstrates its underlying weakness. We have noted recent reports of Chinese citizens deployed by Russia in Ukraine. We have seen no evidence of state sponsorship in relation to these recent reports, but we continue to monitor the situation.
Asked by: Lincoln Jopp (Conservative - Spelthorne)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the key milestones of the China Audit are.
Answered by Catherine West - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government is carrying out an Audit of the UK's interests with regards to China, to bring a long term and strategic approach to managing our relations. The timeline for the Audit is driven by the need for sufficient consultation, not just across government, but also business, academia, civil society, and Parliamentarians [including those sanctioned by China], to inform its analysis. The Audit's findings, which will also inform other important developments such as the forthcoming National Security Strategy and Industrial Strategy, will be shared with Parliament and other stakeholders in due course.