Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the meeting between China and North Korea on 13 April 2024.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK is clear that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) breaches of UN Security Council Resolutions, including its illegal ballistic missile launches and sanctions evasion, threaten global peace and stability. We are working closely with our partners to urge the DPRK regime to return to talks and take credible steps towards complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation. Until then, we will continue to enforce sanctions against them. We urge North Korea to come back to the negotiating table, and for China to incentivise that path.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what discussions his Department has had with international partners on civil liberties in Hong Kong.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK continues 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. That includes through the G7 and the Media Freedom Coalition. On 20 March, the UK raised Hong Kong's new national security legislation (Article 23) at the UN Human Rights Council, setting out our view that it will further erode rights and freedoms in the city.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether she has had recent discussions with her counterpart in the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK and Taiwan already share a deep, £11bn trade and investment relationship.
Trade Talks with Taiwan are longstanding and held annually to boost trade and support economic growth. To build on this the UK and Taiwan are developing an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) to further increase trade and investment. This will promote co-operation and support British businesses to take advantage of opportunities, initially in investment, digital trade, and energy and net-zero.
Minister Huddleston hosted the 26th UK Taiwan Trade Talks in London on 8 November 2023, and I met with Taiwan’s Minister Deng in February at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi.
Asked by: Andrew Rosindell (Conservative - Romford)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to improve trade links with the Republic of China (Taiwan).
Answered by Greg Hands - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
The UK and Taiwan already share a deep, £11bn trade and investment relationship.
Trade Talks with Taiwan are longstanding and held annually to boost trade and support economic growth. To build on this the UK and Taiwan are developing an Enhanced Trade Partnership (ETP) to further increase trade and investment. This will promote co-operation and support British businesses to take advantage of opportunities, initially in investment, digital trade, and energy and net-zero.
Minister Huddleston hosted the 26th UK Taiwan Trade Talks in London on 8 November 2023, and I met with Taiwan’s Minister Deng in February at the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi.
Asked by: Carla Lockhart (Democratic Unionist Party - Upper Bann)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what steps he is taking to support (a) human rights and (b) democracy in (i) sub-Saharan Africa and (ii) other countries.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
The UK is a long-standing supporter of an open international order based on respect for democracy and human rights. Globally, our work includes holding Russia to account over its actions in Ukraine and at home and China for its actions in Xinjiang province; and supporting the Human Rights Council and the Summits for Democracy. Across Africa, our human rights work has included support to media freedom in South Sudan, human rights defenders in Zimbabwe, and tackling child exploitation in DRC. We have also partnered to support democratic institutions: for example, the judiciary in Kenya, civil society in Nigeria, and the African Union (AU), through our £7 million AU Conflict and Governance programme.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an estimate of potential trends in the level of inward investment due to British companies re-shoring their manufacturing in the next 12 months.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
The UK maintains its strong position on attracting greenfield FDI, leading in Europe and third only to the US and China globally. EY’s 2023 FDI survey reported 65% of respondents planning to invest in the UK in the following 12 months, a record high.
A specific assessment around re-shoring cannot be made. The available data concerning inward investment does not distinguish reshoring from other forms of domestic investment.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many requests for consular support were made to each British Embassy or Consulate in 2023; and how many of those were responded to by officials within a period of 24 hours.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our consular staff endeavour to give appropriate and tailored assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year, to British nationals overseas and their families in the UK who need support. In 2023, in addition to long running cases, we provided support to around 22,000 British nationals, see breakdown by Post in the table below. The FCDO reports publicly on consular delivery through the FCDO Outcome Delivery Plan [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-commonwealth-development-office-outcome-delivery-plan]. Publishing our transparency data is currently on hold while we embed a new Case Management system.
COUNTRY | 2023 |
Afghanistan | 22 |
Albania | 63 |
Algeria | 23 |
Angola | |
Argentina | 34 |
Armenia | 8 |
Australia | 414 |
Austria | 92 |
Azerbaijan | 12 |
Bahrain | 48 |
Barbados | 113 |
Belarus | 6 |
Belgium | 152 |
Bolivia | 12 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 12 |
Botswana | 15 |
Brazil | 88 |
Bulgaria | 166 |
Cambodia | 112 |
Cameroon | 30 |
Canada | 181 |
Chile | 21 |
China | 143 |
Colombia | 73 |
Congo (Democratic Republic) | 22 |
Costa Rica | 39 |
Croatia | 114 |
Cuba | 29 |
Cyprus | 441 |
Czechia | 141 |
Denmark | 88 |
Dominican Republic | 67 |
Ecuador | 13 |
Egypt | 383 |
Estonia | 19 |
Ethiopia | 104 |
Fiji | 21 |
Finland | 49 |
France | 1027 |
Georgia | 27 |
Germany | 662 |
Ghana | 85 |
Greece | 936 |
Guatemala | 43 |
Guinea | |
Guyana | 17 |
Hong Kong SAR | 110 |
Hungary | 131 |
Iceland | 17 |
India | 360 |
Indonesia | 196 |
Iraq | 46 |
Ireland | 104 |
Israel | 39 |
Italy | 411 |
Ivory Coast | |
Jamaica | 179 |
Japan | 167 |
Jerusalem | 61 |
Jordan | 71 |
Kazakhstan | 14 |
Kenya | 146 |
Kuwait | 30 |
Kyrgyzstan | |
Laos | 29 |
Latvia | 20 |
Lebanon | 34 |
Liberia | |
Lithuania | 23 |
Luxembourg | 10 |
Madagascar | |
Malawi | |
Malaysia | 138 |
Malta | 106 |
Mauritius | 14 |
Mexico | 207 |
Moldova | 13 |
Mongolia | 6 |
Montenegro | 33 |
Morocco | 222 |
Myanmar (Burma) | 8 |
Namibia | 9 |
Nepal | 21 |
Netherlands | 287 |
New Zealand | 127 |
Nigeria | 74 |
Norway | 149 |
Oman | 50 |
Pakistan | 376 |
Panama | 17 |
Paraguay | |
Peru | 58 |
Philippines | 283 |
Poland | 242 |
Portugal | 524 |
Qatar | 96 |
Romania | 89 |
Russia | 28 |
Rwanda | 7 |
Saudi Arabia | 166 |
Senegal | 21 |
Serbia | 29 |
Seychelles | 11 |
Sierra Leone | 15 |
Singapore | 105 |
Slovakia | 38 |
Slovenia | 17 |
South Africa | 195 |
South Korea | 40 |
Spain | 4143 |
Sri Lanka | 86 |
St Lucia | 21 |
Sudan | 34 |
Sweden | 110 |
Switzerland | 157 |
Taiwan | 22 |
Tajikistan | 6 |
Tanzania | 36 |
Thailand | 1383 |
The Gambia | 48 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 40 |
Tunisia | 75 |
Turkey | 947 |
Uganda | 52 |
Ukraine | 56 |
United Arab Emirates | 658 |
United States | 1649 |
Uruguay | 10 |
Uzbekistan | 8 |
Venezuela | |
Vietnam | 188 |
Zambia | 22 |
Zimbabwe | 26 |
NB We do not publish data where figures are 5 or below to comply with GDPR
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, whether he plans to visit China.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
We will confirm Ministerial travel in the usual way.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Wood Green)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many UK-based staff from his Department worked in (a) HM Embassy or the High Commission and (b) Consulates General, Consulates or Deputy High Commissions in (i) China, (ii) South Korea, (iii) Vietnam, (iv) the Philippines, (v) India and (vi) the Asia Pacific region in 2023.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Mar24 UKB Data | |||
Location | A | B | |
(v) | India | 30-39 | 10-19 |
(iv) | Philippines | 10-19 | No UKB Staff |
(ii) | South Korea | 10-19 | No UKB Staff |
(iii) | Vietnam | 10-19 | Fewer than 10 |
(vi) | Asia Pacific Region | 180-199 | Fewer than 10 |
Scope | |
British Embassy | A |
British High Commission | A |
British Consulate | B |
British Consulate General | B |
British Deputy High Commission | B |
Countries in Scope of Asia Pacific Region |
Australia |
Brunei |
Cambodia |
Fiji |
Indonesia |
South Korea |
Laos |
Malaysia |
Myanmar |
New Zealand |
Papua New Guinea |
Philippines |
Samoa |
Singapore |
Solomon Islands |
Thailand |
Tonga |
Vanuatu |
Vietnam |
Staff in scope: UKB | |
Headcount data is presented as at: Mar24 | |
Locations:China (Withheld), India, Philippines, South Korea, Vietnam (Part (i) to (v), see list for (Part (vi). | |
Staff out of scope: Contingent Labour, Unpaid Liabilities, Ministers / NeDs / SpAds etc, third party suppliers, Staff working for other government departments, CB staff. | |
Headcounts are banded for release in line with advice from FCDO Information and Cyber Security Unit. |
Asked by: Alexander Stafford (Conservative - Rother Valley)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent assessment he has made of the safety of British National (Overseas) passport holders in Hong Kong.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Under an exchange of Memoranda to the Sino-British Joint Declaration, British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) passport holders are eligible for consular assistance in third countries, but not in Hong Kong, Macao or mainland China. Where we have humanitarian or human rights concerns about the treatment of BN(O) passport holders in Hong Kong, Macao or mainland China, we can lobby the relevant authorities, raise issues in international fora and demonstrate our political support. For example, on 8 March, we raised the alleged treatment of Andy Li at the UN Human Rights Council. Our diplomats in Hong Kong regularly attend court to observe a number of national security cases, including for Jimmy Lai's, the NSL 47 and others. On 16 February, the Foreign Secretary raised prosecutions under the National Security Law with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister Wang Yi at the Munich Security Conference.