Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he plans to visit China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We will confirm Ministerial travel in the usual way.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the UK’s aid relationship with China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We stopped direct government-to-government aid to the Chinese Government in 2011. In a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) in April 2021, the FCDO committed to cut Official Development Assistance (ODA) funded programmes in China by 95 per cent from the 2021-22 financial year, which it has delivered. All new ODA programme funding has been limited to supporting our open societies and human rights objectives in China.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the relationship between India and China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK has an independent relationship with both India and China. Relations between these two countries are a matter for their governments to progress and manage through peaceful means. The UK has no direct role.
Dec. 11 2023
Source Page: FCDO spokesperson statement on incidents in the South China SeaFound: FCDO spokesperson statement on incidents in the South China Sea
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent steps his Department has taken to help protect freedom of religious belief for (a) Christians and (b) other religious minorities in China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government continues to monitor the persecution of religious groups in China, including Christians. The freedom to practice, change or share one's faith or belief without discrimination is a human right that all people should enjoy.
The space for religious freedom in China continues to deteriorate, for Christians and other religious minorities. For example, recent new Measures on the Administration of Religious Activity Venues legislation includes widespread restrictions on religious practice such as requirements for priests to conduct sermons promoting core socialist values and Xi Jinping Thought.
The British government works with international organisations and networks to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief for all where it is threatened. This includes work through the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.
Nov. 16 2023
Source Page: TRA opens new investigations into excavators from ChinaFound: TRA opens new investigations into excavators from China
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to help increase exports to China in the last two years.
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The Government is committed to driving forward export growth, helping UK businesses export to markets across the globe including China. UK exports to China amounted to £37.5 billion in the 12 months to September 2023, an increase of 11.9% or £4.0 billion in current prices compared to the previous 12 months, making China the UK's 6th largest export market.
Via Great.gov.uk, UK businesses can access DBT's wealth of export support. This comprises a digital self-serve offer and our wider network of support, including trade advisers, export champions, the Export Academy, International Markets network, and UK Export Finance.
Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the government of the People's Republic of China, including in discussions between the Foreign Secretary and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference, to call for the immediate removal of sanctions against British parliamentarians who have raised concerns regarding human rights issues in China, Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government considers China's sanctions to be completely unwarranted and unacceptable. When China imposed the sanctions in 2021, the former Minister for Asia summoned China's representative in the UK to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to lodge a strong, formal protest. We continue to urge the Chinese authorities at the highest levels to rescind the sanctions; the Foreign Secretary has called for their removal at both of his engagements with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi - in person at the Munich Security Conference on 16 February, and during their introductory call in December 2023. The former Foreign Secretary also consistently raised sanctioned Parliamentarians, including during his visit to Beijing in August 2023. The Government will continue to raise this issue in our engagement with China.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what estimate he has made of the number of journalists detained in China; and what steps he is taking to support media freedom in that country.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
There are severe restrictions on media freedom in China, and the situation for journalists is deteriorating. The Government notes Reporters Without Borders' credible estimate that 109 journalists and media workers are currently detained by China.
The Government supports media freedom and the right of journalists to do their job. We consistently raise our concerns bilaterally and multilaterally. For example, at China's Universal Periodic Review in January we called on China to cease restrictions on civil society and independent media, and raised the cases of Sophia Huang Xueqin and Zhang Zhan, among others. I raised human rights concerns with my counterparts during my visit to China in April, and the Foreign Secretary did so when he met China's Foreign Minister in February. British diplomats have also attempted to attend trials of civilian journalists and rights activists in China to demonstrate support.
Asked by: Matthew Offord (Conservative - Hendon)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of fishing by China’s state-sponsored distant water fleet in the (a) Andaman Sea and (b) Gulf of Thailand.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is committed to engaging with other countries, including China, to sustainably manage fisheries, protect ecosystems and combat Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. We support ocean protection through appropriate funding. For example, at the G7 Leaders Summit in Cornwall, the Government pledged £500 million to create our Blue Planet Fund to help developing countries protect the ocean from pollution, overfishing and habitat loss. We also push for multilateral action internationally, including through Regional Fisheries Management Organisations, the Convention of Biological Diversity and the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation. The UK remains committed to international law and UNCLOS.
China is building a network of fishing bases in developing countries across four continents. Comprising ports, boats, and fish processing plants, the bases service China's distant-water fleet: an armada of over 4,600 vessels (potentially many more) that operates in the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of 42 countries and accounts for 14 percent of worldwide marine catch by value.