Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department has taken to implement individual sanctions against officials from (a) Hong Kong and (b) China who are complicit with violations of (i) human rights violations and (ii) civil and democratic rights.

The UK is clear that China remains in an ongoing state of non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Whilst we keep potential sanctions designations under close and regular review, it is not appropriate to speculate who may be designated in the future. To do so could reduce their impact.

Under the UK's Global Human Rights sanctions regime, the UK has imposed asset freezes and travel bans against four Chinese Government officials as well as an asset freeze against one entity responsible for enforcing the repressive security policies across many areas of Xinjiang. We will continue to act with our likeminded partners to ensure that those responsible for gross human rights violations, both in China and across the globe, are held to account.