Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of providing a multi-year funding settlement for its work on China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO receives multi-year funding settlements at each Spending Review, which are then allocated internally. The FCDO have published their planned budget allocations for the remaining years of the current Spending Review period (2023-24 and 2024-25) within the 2022-23 Annual Report and Accounts.
As set out in the Integrated Review Refresh in March, we will double our funding (financial year 2024-25) to build China capabilities across the Government in recognition of the evolving and epoch-defining challenge that China poses. We are unable to comment on funding allocations outside of the current Spending Review period.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is taking steps with his international counterparts to (a) share and (b) adopt best practice on tackling Chinese espionage.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary laid out in his Mansion House speech, our China policy involves deepening cooperation and strengthening our alignment with friends and partners across the world. This includes sharing our awareness and understanding of threats we, and our allies, face so that we can strengthen our national security protections wherever actions pose a threat to our people or our prosperity.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his US counterpart on that country's sanctions on the (a) Myanma Foreign Trade Bank and (b) Myanma Investment and Commercial Bank; and whether the Government is considering sanctioning those entities.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the coup in February 2021, the UK has announced fifteen rounds of targeted sanctions on the military leadership, and those who seek to profit from supplying the regime. We will continue to work closely with international partners, including the US, EU, Canada and Australia, to take robust action to reduce the military's access to revenue, arms, and equipment. The UK is committed to targeted sanctions, which directly impact the military without harming the wider population. This will be a key consideration for any future designations. It would be inappropriate to speculate on future targets by either ourselves or our partners.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with international counterparts on possible sanctions on the Myanma Economic Bank.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Since the coup in February 2021, the UK has announced fifteen rounds of targeted sanctions on the military leadership, and those who seek to profit from supplying the regime. We will continue to work closely with international partners, including the US, EU, Canada and Australia, to take robust action to reduce the military's access to revenue, arms, and equipment. The UK is committed to targeted sanctions, which directly impact the military without harming the wider population. This will be a key consideration for any future designations. It would be inappropriate to speculate on future targets by either ourselves or our partners.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the level of third-country military support to the Junta in Myanmar; and what discussions has he had with his counterparts in the region on that support.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is a longstanding supporter of an arms embargo on Myanmar. We are clear that countries should not sell arms to the Myanmar military. In March 2022, the UK coordinated a joint statement with 47 countries, committing signatories to preventing the flow of arms to Myanmar. In March 2023, the UK announced its fifteenth round of sanctions, targeting those profiting from supplying aviation fuel and military equipment to the military. We raise the Myanmar crisis regularly with international partners bilaterally and in multilateral fora, including at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and G7.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions has he had with international counterparts on (a) strengthening and (b) supporting the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continue to regularly raise the human rights situation in Myanmar with international partners and in international fora. In April, the UK co-sponsored a Human Rights Council Resolution welcoming the work and extending the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar. We regularly meet with the Special Rapporteur to discuss the human rights situation in Myanmar, most recently in June.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions has he had with international counterparts on the issuing of arrest warrants for Hong Kong nationals living overseas.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
As the Foreign Secretary made clear on 3 July, we will not tolerate any attempts by China to intimidate and silence individuals in the UK. The US, Australia and Canada have also spoken out in robust terms. The UK and its allies will always defend the universal right to freedom of expression and stand up for those targeted simply for exercising that right.
We will continue to act as a convening power, bringing together our international partners to stand up for the people of Hong Kong, to call out violations of their rights and freedoms, and to hold China to its international obligations.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he plans to raise with the Chinese Government the potential risks to UK health and genetic data of (a) BGI Group and (b) other Chinese genomics firms.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We continually monitor threats to our data and will not hesitate to take action if necessary to protect our national security. We expect all firms to fully comply with UK privacy laws. Those which do not may be investigated and subject to enforcement action. We have also strengthened measures to prevent the transfer of assets or technology that could pose national security risks. This includes upgrading our export control regime and Military End Use Control and introducing the National Security and Investment Act. As part of the new UK Biological Security Strategy, the Government is undertaking a full programme of work to assess how we can minimise the risks from biological data to protect our burgeoning bioeconomy, without stifling innovation, and build confidence in sharing personal data to improve health outcomes in the UK and across the world.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of UK funding for research on treating and preventing (a) dengue, (b) chikungunya and (c) other arboviral diseases in the last five years; and what future plans he has to support dengue research and innovation.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
UK investments in Product Development Partnerships for research on novel health technologies have led to advancements in tackling many neglected diseases of poverty, including dengue, chikungunya and other arboviral diseases. The FCDO supports the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) which has established a research partnership with dengue-endemic countries to find a safe, affordable, and effective treatment for this disease. FCDO also invests in the Liverpool based Innovative Vector Control Consortium (IVCC), which is developing innovative ways to reduce transmission by mosquitos, including those that transmit arboviruses. Research is still at an early stage and continuous investment in Research and Development (R&D) will be essential to ensure progress in combatting these diseases.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking with international counterparts to prevent North Korea from committing sanctions violations.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We are clear that until the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) returns to dialogue, all countries must fully implement United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Resolutions, including the enforcement of sanctions agreed by the UNSC to curtail the DPRK's prohibited programmes. The UK has stationed two offshore patrol vessels, HMS Tamar and HMS SPEY, which have conducted multiple enforcement operations in the Indo-Pacific against illicit DPRK maritime activity to uphold the rules based international order.