Mentions:
1: Iain Duncan Smith (Con - Chingford and Woodford Green) China is the most egregious offender in this regard, with its actions on religion in Xinjiang and in Tibet - Speech Link
Formal Minutes Mar. 14 2024
Committee: Human Rights (Joint Committee)Found: Policing; Qatar; Rwanda & Gt Lakes; Save the Pub; Sri Lanka; Street Children; Swimming; Taiwan; Tamils; Tibet
Asked by: Lord Hunt of Kings Heath (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they have made an assessment of the number of internment camps in (1) China, (2) Xinjiang, and (3) Tibet.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government closely monitors the human rights situation in China, where people face widespread restrictions and violations on human rights and fundamental freedoms. 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". Regarding Tibet, UN Special Rapporteurs reported in February 2023 that "around a million" Tibetan children had been separated from their families to assimilate them into majority Han culture. The UK Government continues to lead international efforts to hold China to account, including through the UN and bilaterally. The Foreign Secretary raised human rights concerns in his meeting with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on 16 February.
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.
Mentions:
1: Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle (Green - Life peer) you see that we have long been a leader—going back decades —in defending the rights of the people of Tibet - Speech Link
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps his Department has taken to address the persecution of Buddhists in Tibet.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government consistently raises human rights issues with the Chinese authorities. The Foreign Secretary did so during his introductory call with China's Foreign Minister on 5 December 2023. We also regularly raise Tibet in multilateral fora, urging China to reverse its ongoing, serious, and systematic human rights violations. On 23 January at China's Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council, the UK again called on China to cease human rights violations in Tibet. 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.
Oral Evidence Feb. 06 2024
Committee: Foreign Affairs Committee (Department: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)Found: reports, after the report came out from the Uyghur region, that similar things have been happening in Tibet
Oral Evidence Feb. 06 2024
Committee: Foreign Affairs Committee (Department: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)Found: reports, after the report came out from the Uyghur region, that similar things have been happening in Tibet
Oral Evidence Feb. 06 2024
Committee: Foreign Affairs Committee (Department: Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office)Found: reports, after the report came out from the Uyghur region, that similar things have been happening in Tibet