Starmer has confirmed that Beijing has lifted sanctions on British lawmakers. China had imposed sanctions on four MPs and two peers in 2021 who had criticised Beijing over human rights…
Starmer told Times Radio:
“The question of our parliamentarians has been a huge issue back in our Parliament and therefore I did raise it. And the response has been that the restrictions no longer apply. And President Xi said to me ‘what that means is that all parliamentarians are free to travel to China.’ It underscores the point that I’ve been making all along, which is that it’s only by coming and engaging and having a leader to leader discussion that high can both take the opportunities – which have been really material in this visit – but also raise the sensitive issues. Some of my critics say ‘no, you’re better off at home, sticking your head in the sand and talking to no one’. That doesn’t resolve anything. We’ve made real progress on this visit.”
It was reported in June that this could happen. At the time, sanctioned MP Iain Duncan Smith told Guido it was “an offering from China” to Labour to grease the wheels for their mega-embassy at Royal Mint Court. Signed off now…
UPDATE: The sanctioned parliamentarians have issued a statement. Read it below:
“We have learned through media reporting that the People’s Republic of China has lifted the sanctions imposed on us in 2021 for raising concerns in Parliament about human rights abuses in China.
We were not contacted by anyone in government prior to this decision being made public, and we expect clear assurances that UK sanctions against the four Chinese government officials responsible for genocide remain firmly in place. It appears that sanctions have not been lifted on former MP Tim Loughton, nor on Essex Court Chambers, Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, the Uyghur Tribunal, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, or Dr Joanne Smith Finley.
We also remain unclear as to whether sanctions on our family members are still in force. The selective lifting of sanctions solely on sitting parliamentarians is wrong. Parliament exists to represent and defend the people of the United Kingdom. Seeking or accepting preferential treatment for current MPs and Peers sends a damaging signal that some are more deserving of protection than others. While British citizen Jimmy Lai remains imprisoned, and Uyghurs continue to suffer atrocity crimes, we take no comfort in this decision and will not be silenced.
We look forward to receiving urgent assurances from the government regarding those who were placed under sanction together with us, and take this opportunity to express our ongoing solidarity with the Uyghur people, whose cause we will not drop. We hope that the Prime Minister will meet all of those sanctioned, not just sitting Parliamentarians, upon his return.”
The list of no-longer sanctioned lawmakers are:
MPs:
Sir Iain Duncan Smith
Tom Tugendhat
Nus Ghani
Neil O’Brien
Peers:
Lord Alton
Baroness Kennedy
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