Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the UK Government made any requests to open a mission in Lhasa.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
We have not made any recent requests to the Chinese Government to open a mission in Lhasa.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what restrictions have been placed on British tourists and officials who have been granted access to the Tibet Autonomous Region in recent years.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
When officials have visited the Tibet Adiminstation Region (TAR) in recent years, these visits have followed a formal programme organised by the Chinese authorities. Foreign and Commonwealth Office Travel Advice describes the restrictions on tourist visits to the TAR. It notes that tourists can only travel to the TAR on an organised tour and must get a permit in advance through a specialised travel agent in China. It goes on to note that Chinese authorities sometimes stop issuing these without notice.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what restrictions the UK Government places on diplomats from China travelling in the UK; and who is responsible for those diplomats.
Answered by Andrew Murrison - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Defence)
Chinese diplomats have no restrictions placed on them when travelling in the UK, and the Chinese Embassy is responsible for those diplomats.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the recent escalation of military activity in Al Dhale in Yemen on the Stockholm process.
Answered by Mark Field
We are aware of the recent escalation of military activity in al-Dhale’e. All parties must engage constructively and in good faith to overcome obstacles and find a political solution to end the conflict. We urge all parties to support and facilitate the UN’s efforts.
The Foreign Secretary hosted a meeting of the Yemen Quad on 26 April in London. Quad membersunderlined their commitment to a comprehensive political solution for the conflict in Yemen and their endorsement of the agreements reached in Stockholm by the Yemeni parties in December 2018.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many official requests have been made to visit Tibet in the last 10 years; and how many of those requests were granted.
Answered by Mark Field
We have made repeated requests to the Chinese authorities to visit Tibet in the last 10 years, but very few of those have been agreed or acknowledged. The British Ambassador most recently visited Tibet from 26–30 June 2017, with other EU Heads of Mission representing their individual countries. Our Ambassador is the UK representative for the whole of China and we believe it is important she is able to visit all areas – including Tibet. We continue to press for the further access for British diplomats, as well as urging the Chinese authorities to lift the visit restrictions imposed on all foreigners.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK journalists have been (a) denied access to and (b) expelled from (i) Tibet and (ii) China in the last five years.
Answered by Mark Field
We do not hold statistics of the number of UK journalists who have been denied access to, or expelled from, Tibet and China in the last five years.
Access to Tibet by all foreign passport holders is heavily restricted by the Chinese authorities. This includes journalists. We continue to urge the Chinese authorities to lift the visit restrictions imposed on foreigners. The Government regards the Tibet Autonomous Region as part of the People’s Republic of China, and we consistently urge China to respect all fundamental rights, including in Tibet, in line with both its own constitution and the international frameworks to which it is a party.
Access to other parts of the People’s Republic of China is more freely given to UK journalists, but under certain restrictions. All UK nationals wishing to visit to travel and work in China should pay close attention to the FCO Travel Advice which is regularly updated.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, for what reason the Moldovan Head of Government was not invited to the Western Balkans Summit in London on 10 July 2018.
Answered by Alan Duncan
The 10 July Western Balkans Summit in London was the fifth convened under the Berlin Process launched by Chancellor Merkel in 2014. The fourteen Berlin Process Leaders were invited to the Summit. Moldova is not a member of the Berlin Process so was not invited. Prime Minister Tsipras was invited to the Summit to brief, alongside Prime Minister Zaev, on the Name Issue agreement. Prime Minister Borissov was also invited given his hosting of the 17 May EU-Western Balkans Summit in Sofia.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to raise concerns on human rights abuses in Tibet directly with Xi Jinping.
Answered by Mark Field
The UK continues to express strong concerns about human rights and freedoms in Tibet. We consistently urge the Chinese authorities to respect all fundamental rights across the People's Republic of China, in line with both its own constitution and the international frameworks to which it is a party.
We raised our concerns about Tibet directly with the Chinese authorities at the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue held in Beijing on 27 June.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that human rights abuses in Tibet are raised in discussions with the Chinese Government at ministerial and official level.
Answered by Mark Field
We continue to raise our concerns about the human rights situation in Tibet with the Chinese authorities on a regular basis. We most recently raised our concerns about Tibet at the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue held in Beijing on 27 June. The Foreign Secretary also raised the issue with the Chinese Government at the UK/China Strategic dialogue in December 2016.
Asked by: Tim Loughton (Conservative - East Worthing and Shoreham)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in China on sentencing of Drugdra, Lobsang Khedrub, Lobsang Gephel, Lodro, Ta're Kyi, Bonkho Kyi, Tsultrim (Trotsik Tsultrim), Tsultrim (Tsulte), Akyakya and Losang Sonam for their involvement in the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday celebrations.
Answered by Alok Sharma - COP26 President (Cabinet Office)
We have concerns about human rights and freedoms in Tibet. We have not raised these specific cases with the Chinese Government. However, the Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Boris Johnson), raised our concerns about human rights in Tibet with the Chinese Government at the UK-China Strategic Dialogue on 20 December. We also raised our concerns about Tibet and a number of individuals with the Chinese Government at the UK-China Human Rights Dialogue on 27 October. I attended the opening of the dialogue. We have recently received information on the sentencing of these individuals, and are in touch with our Embassy in Beijing to obtain further details.