Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the letter sent to the government of China’s State Councillor and Minister for Foreign Affairs by the UN Special Rapporteurs on 19 June on (1) the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, (2) extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, (3) the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, (4) the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, (5) the situation of human rights defenders, and (6) expressing concern about the imposition of new security laws in Hong Kong.

We are aware of the letter sent to the Government of China's State Councillor and Minister for Foreign Affairs by the UN Special Rapporteurs on 19 June, and have repeatedly set out our concerns on the issues raised in the letter. We remain committed to promoting human rights in China, and our continued multilateral and bilateral activity demonstrates this. On 30 June at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, the UK led a formal Joint Statement with the support of 27 international partners, setting out our deep concern on Hong Kong and the situation in Xinjiang. This statement, delivered through UK leadership, underlines the strength and breadth of international concern. As the Foreign Secretary said in Parliament on 1 July, the enactment by China of a national security law for Hong Kong is a grave and deeply disturbing step. The law's imposition by Beijing on the people of Hong Kong constitutes a clear and serious breach of the Sino-British Joint Declaration. On the same day, the Permanent Under Secretary of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office summoned the Chinese Ambassador to make clear the UK's deep concern at China's actions.