Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential relationship between Confucius Institutes in the UK and the (a) United Front Work Department and (b) Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party.

The Government is committed to supporting the UK education sector to engage with China in a way that reflects the UK's values and takes account of national security concerns. Where we have clear evidence of behaviours that threaten our national security, we will of course act accordingly. However, as a matter of long-standing policy we will not comment on intelligence matters.