Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 7 March (HL2663), whether they have made any estimate of the number of camps, including the so-called anti-extremism centres and re-education camps, in (1) Tibet and (2) the rest of China.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The Government refers to credible external estimates, in particular those from the United Nations, of numbers of individuals in China detained under various circumstances and within certain geographies. For example, the April 2023 UN Special Procedures found "[h]undreds of thousands of Tibetans have reportedly been 'transferred' from their traditional rural lives to low-skilled and low-paid employment since 2015" noting "the labour transfer programme is facilitated by a network of 'vocational training centres', which focus less on developing professional skills and more on cultural and political indoctrination in a militarised environment." As noted in the Government's response to Written Question HL2663, with regard to the situation in Xinjiang, in 2018 the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination estimated "upwards of a million people were being held in so-called counter-extremism centres and another two million had been forced into what the Chinese refer to as 're-education camps' for political and cultural indoctrination."
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: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
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 Chinese Communist Party re-education classes for Catholic priests in the Inner Mongolia region.
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 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.
Mentions:
1: Lord Howell of Guildford (Con - Life peer) It is China that will be the loser. - Speech Link
2: Lord Swire (Con - Life peer) on China that Russia will now have. - Speech Link
3: Lord Coaker (Lab - Life peer) Kong, and to the South China Sea? - Speech Link
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to support freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK takes no sides in the sovereignty disputes in the South China Sea but we oppose actions which raise tensions and increase the risk of miscalculation. The UK's commitment is to international law, the primacy of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to freedom of navigation and overflight. The UK has continued to condemn unsafe, escalatory and dangerous actions by Chinese vessels against Philippine vessels in the South China Sea via our Ambassador in Manila, and in an FCDO Spokesperson statement. The UK continues to support regional partners through an enhanced programme of maritime capacity building in Southeast Asia which provides training and funding to strengthen regional capacity on maritime law and security.
Asked by: Preet Kaur Gill (Labour (Co-op) - Birmingham, Edgbaston)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in China on the treatment of Falun Gong practitioners.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We remain deeply concerned about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief in China. The environment for Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) across China is restrictive, which includes the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. The British government works with international organisations and networks to promote and protect the freedom of religion or belief for all where it is threatened, including through the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance. The Foreign Secretary set out his concerns about human rights violations in China during his introductory call with China's Foreign Minister on 5 December 2023.
Asked by: Iain Duncan Smith (Conservative - Chingford and Woodford Green)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has had recent discussions with businesses which operate in China on their legal obligations under the Modern Slavery Act 2015.
Answered by Laura Farris - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Ministry of Justice) (jointly with Home Office)
Home Office Ministers have not met with businesses which operate in China to discuss the Modern Slavey Act 2015.
Under Section 54 of the Modern Slavery Act, commercial businesses who operate in the UK and have a turnover of £36m or more are required to report annually on the steps they have taken to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains. The aim of the requirement is to provide transparency, allowing consumers, investors, and civil society to scrutinise business action.
In 2021 the Government launched the modern slavery statement registry to bring together modern slavery statements on a single platform and make the data readily available for investors, civil society and consumers. Since launching the online modern slavery statement registry in March 2021, over 12,500 modern slavery statements covering over 43,000 organisations have been submitted to the registry on a voluntary basis.
The Government does not routinely review the quality of individual modern slavery statements.
Oct. 25 2023
Source Page: South China Sea conference 2023: Indo-Pacific Minister's speechFound: South China Sea conference 2023: Indo-Pacific Minister's speech
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of continuing to send Foreign Aid to China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
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. Since then, all new ODA programming in China supports activities that further our human rights objectives, for example on LGBTQ+ or disability rights. In addition to programme spend, FCDO ODA to China includes other types of spend counted as ODA, such as Chevening scholarships. The FCDO also spends non-ODA funding furthering our China human rights objectives, including research into Xinjiang and Tibet. The UK stopped direct aid to the Chinese Government in 2011.
Mentions:
1: Lord West of Spithead (Lab - Life peer) what assessment they have made of the report by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament China - Speech Link
2: Lord Alderdice (LD - Life peer) our country and our people from the political, economic and military threats in our relationship with China - Speech Link
3: Baroness Goldie (Con - Life peer) In relation to China, the integrated review and the integrated review refresh represented a comprehensive - Speech Link
4: Baroness Goldie (Con - Life peer) to have regard to what we are doing in this country to augment the infrastructure for engaging with China - Speech Link