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.

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.