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 the implications for his policies of reports that patents were filed in July 2018 for technology that could identify people by their ethnicity by (a) Huawei and the (b) Chinese Academy of Sciences which specifically seeks to identify members of China's Uyghur population; and what recent discussions he has had with (i) Cabinet colleagues, (ii) representatives of Huawei and (iii) other relevant stakeholders on the potential role of that technology in the persecution of the Uyghur population in China.

The UK is committed to promoting the ethical development and deployment of technology in the UK and overseas. We are aware of a number of Chinese technology companies linked to violations taking place in Xinjiang, and are monitoring the situation closely.

On 12 January, the Foreign Secretary announced a series of measures to help ensure UK businesses and the public sector are not complicit in human rights violations or abuses in Xinjiang. These measures include a review of export controls; the introduction of financial penalties under the Modern Slavery Act; increasing support for UK government bodies to exclude suppliers complicit in violations or abuses; and strengthening the Overseas Business Risk guidance to highlight that businesses engaged in the fields of surveillance, biometrics, or tracking technology are at heightened risk of complicity in human rights violations in Xinjiang.

The UK Government has embarked on a comprehensive programme of engagement with businesses and UK trade bodies to discuss these issues. This has included a number of high level, Minister led sessions with businesses and trade bodies on the issue of Xinjiang since February 2021. The Government has also published guidance to help cutting-edge UK firms negotiate the ethical, legal and commercial questions they may encounter when working with Chinese businesses, supporting safe and appropriate UK-China collaboration in digital and tech. The guidance provides firms with clear, up-to-date information and specialist support which reflect the UK's values and take account of national security concerns.

There are regular discussions across Government on these issues, including through a cross-Government working group established in August 2020 to coordinate action related to the human rights situation in Xinjiang.