Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what actions they are taking to ensure sanctions imposed by China on former Members of Parliament are removed.

I refer the Noble Lord to the Prime Minister's statement on China and Japan on 2 February in the House of Commons, and the Private Notice Question that was debated on 2 February.

In his meeting with the Prime Minister, President Xi Jinping confirmed that all parliamentarians are free to travel to China.

This Government has been clear that China's retaliatory sanctions on UK parliamentarians and others are unwarranted and unacceptable. The lifting of restrictions for all parliamentarians is a positive step, and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office is engaging with Chinese officials to get more clarity on what the latest changes mean in practice, including for non-parliamentarians sanctioned by China.

Except for the sanctions announced by the Chinese authorities in March 2021, the Government is not aware of any other UK citizens who are subject to official sanctions.