China and Japan

Rupa Huq Excerpts

Monday 2nd February 2026 Commons Chamber

[The Prime Minister]

The Conservatives’ position seems to be that if one has concerns in relation to China, the pragmatic thing to do is to buy a bag of sand and put your head in it. I do not think that is going to influence anything—nothing said here has any influence if you do not have a meeting.

[Dr Rupa Huq (Ealing Central and Acton) (Lab)]

I congratulate my right hon. and learned Friend on last week’s handsome wins, including on visas in China—I just wondered whether the same issue arose in Japan. I did a brilliant visit to the Japan London school in my seat the other day, but that school is finding the dogmatic visa changes made by the Conservative Government burdensome. Will my right hon. and learned Friend look into that, and also praise the contribution of the Japanese in Acton, from sushi to bilingual education?

[The Prime Minister]

We had very productive meetings in Japan. Among the discussions was how we open up to more trade between our two economies.