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London: China’s ambassador to the UK has been blocked from visiting the British Parliament in a dramatic escalation of tensions between leading China hawks and the Chinese Communist Party.
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle revoked an invitation to China’s ambassador Zheng Zeguang to visit the Palace of Westminster as a special guest on Wednesday night.
China’s ambassador Zheng Zeguang, pictured in Beijing in 2017, has been banned from visiting the British Parliament.CREDIT:SANGHEE LIU
Zheng was invited to visit the Commons by Conservative MP Richard Graham, chair of the All Party Parliamentary China Group.
An official invitation said the summer reception to be held on the Commons terrace would feature guest speakers, including the ambassador and a UK minister.
However, former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith wrote to the Speaker requesting the invitation be revoked for as long as sanctions imposed by the Chinese Communist Party on him and several of his colleagues, who all belong to the global Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, remain in place.
Beijing singled out the MPs after high-level Chinese officials were sanctioned by the US, Canada, Europe and the UK over the persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
“The sanctions imposed by the Chinese Government represent an attack not just on members directly targeted but on Parliament, all parliamentarians, Select Committees, and parliamentary privilege,” Sir Iain wrote in his letter, dated September 9.
“The unprecedented sanctions should not be ignored. They are threatening, and an attempt to silence us and our colleagues and [undermine] the safety of us all.
“We should never allow our place of work to become a platform to validate and promote such sanctions.
“It is unthinkable therefore that parliamentarians should have to suffer this infringement on our liberties whilst the prime representative of the Chinese Government in the UK is still apparently free to come to Westminster and to use facilities here as a mouthpiece for his regime.”
The Speaker agreed, telling London’s Telegraph that the event would be inappropriate if hosted in the Parliamentary estate.
“I regularly hold meetings with ambassadors from across the world to establish enduring ties between countries and parliamentarians but I do not feel it’s appropriate for the ambassador for China to meet on the Commons estate and in our place of work when his country has imposed sanctions against some of our members,” Hoyle said.
“If those sanctions were lifted, then of course this would not be an issue. I am not saying the meeting cannot go ahead. I am just saying it cannot take place here while those sanctions remain in place.”
The All Party Parliamentary China Group declined to comment.
Zheng is a relatively new entrant to the British diplomatic scene, having replaced Liu Xiaoming this year. He held his first meeting with the Foreign Secretary in July.
He enters at a low ebb in Sino-British relations compared to the so-called Golden Era when Xi Jinping visited the UK in 2015.
www.theage.com.au
Speaker Lindsay Hoyle revoked an invitation to China’s ambassador Zheng Zeguang to visit the Palace of Westminster as a special guest on Wednesday night.
China’s ambassador Zheng Zeguang, pictured in Beijing in 2017, has been banned from visiting the British Parliament.CREDIT:SANGHEE LIU
Zheng was invited to visit the Commons by Conservative MP Richard Graham, chair of the All Party Parliamentary China Group.
An official invitation said the summer reception to be held on the Commons terrace would feature guest speakers, including the ambassador and a UK minister.
However, former Tory party leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith wrote to the Speaker requesting the invitation be revoked for as long as sanctions imposed by the Chinese Communist Party on him and several of his colleagues, who all belong to the global Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, remain in place.
Beijing singled out the MPs after high-level Chinese officials were sanctioned by the US, Canada, Europe and the UK over the persecution of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang.
“The sanctions imposed by the Chinese Government represent an attack not just on members directly targeted but on Parliament, all parliamentarians, Select Committees, and parliamentary privilege,” Sir Iain wrote in his letter, dated September 9.
“The unprecedented sanctions should not be ignored. They are threatening, and an attempt to silence us and our colleagues and [undermine] the safety of us all.
“We should never allow our place of work to become a platform to validate and promote such sanctions.
“It is unthinkable therefore that parliamentarians should have to suffer this infringement on our liberties whilst the prime representative of the Chinese Government in the UK is still apparently free to come to Westminster and to use facilities here as a mouthpiece for his regime.”
The Speaker agreed, telling London’s Telegraph that the event would be inappropriate if hosted in the Parliamentary estate.
“I regularly hold meetings with ambassadors from across the world to establish enduring ties between countries and parliamentarians but I do not feel it’s appropriate for the ambassador for China to meet on the Commons estate and in our place of work when his country has imposed sanctions against some of our members,” Hoyle said.
“If those sanctions were lifted, then of course this would not be an issue. I am not saying the meeting cannot go ahead. I am just saying it cannot take place here while those sanctions remain in place.”
The All Party Parliamentary China Group declined to comment.
Zheng is a relatively new entrant to the British diplomatic scene, having replaced Liu Xiaoming this year. He held his first meeting with the Foreign Secretary in July.
He enters at a low ebb in Sino-British relations compared to the so-called Golden Era when Xi Jinping visited the UK in 2015.
China’s ambassador banned from entering British Parliament
Zheng Zeguang has been blocked from attending a reception at Westminster in an escalation of tensions between London and Beijing.
