Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with the Chinese ambassador to the UK on reports that a Russian state owned company has developed a weapons programme in China for military drones.

In my meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on 26 July 2024, I urged China to prevent its companies supporting Russia's military industrial complex. Such support poses a material threat to international security and prosperity. Officials have also raised this with the Chinese Ambassador. We will continue to make our concerns clear at every opportunity.

The reports the Right Honorable Member references add to a growing body of open-source reports that Chinese companies are enabling Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, including through the provision of dual use goods. The supply of military UAVs would be a direct contradiction to statements from China that it would not provide weapons to relevant parties of the conflict.