Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of different legislative options for imposing sanctions on China for breaching the terms of the Sino-British Declaration.

On 6 July, the Government established the Global Human Rights ('Magnitsky') sanctions regime by laying regulations in Parliament under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018. This sanctions regime gives the UK a powerful new tool to hold to account those involved in serious human rights violations or abuses. We will continue to consider designations under the Global Human Rights Sanctions Regulations. As I stated to the House on 12 November in response to the Honourable Member's Urgent Question, it is not appropriate to speculate who may be designated under this sanctions regime in the future, as this could reduce the impact of the designations.