Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they will give the continuing imprisonment of British citizen Jimmy Lai and other democracy advocates in Hong Kong in deciding to resume discussions in the UK–China Joint Economic and Trade Commission.

As the Foreign Secretary outlined in the latest Six-Monthly Report on Hong Kong, Mr Lai and others have been targeted by the Hong Kong authorities under the guise of national security and his case is highly politicised. The Foreign Secretary raised Mr Lai's case and China's ongoing non-compliance with the Sino-British Joint Declaration with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng on 31 August during his visit to China. Senior officials have and will continue to raise cases such as Mr Lai's with the Hong Kong authorities. We continue to press for consular access to Mr Lai and diplomats at our Consulate-General in Hong Kong attend Mr Lai's court proceedings. We will continue to bring our international partners together to shine a light on the erosion of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, including on individual cases such as Mr Lai's. In September, the UK led a side event at the UN Human Rights Council on media freedom in Hong Kong, supported by 24 other countries. The UK Government has not made any decision on the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission.