Category: Foreign Affairs

Leo Docherty – 2023 Speech at the Pledging Conference on the Humanitarian Crisis in Yemen

The speech made by Leo Docherty, the Minister for Europe, on 27 February 2023.

Friends and colleagues,

As we have heard, the humanitarian situation in Yemen is dire.

Millions of people continue to suffer the consequences of years of conflict,

And this suffering is made worse by the deteriorating economy, and damaged public services.

I would like to thank the UN, Switzerland, and Sweden for hosting this conference, and all of those generously pledging today.

Your contributions will save lives and alleviate suffering, and the United Kingdom will continue to play its part. This includes resolving the immediate threats posed by the Safer oil tanker. We have a chance to get Safer done if donors and the UN are bold and brave in the next few months.

We have provided more than one billion pounds in aid to Yemen since the start of the conflict.

Over the next financial year, the UK hopes to match last year’s budget and will pledge up to 88 million pounds.

This will feed at least 100,000 Yemeni people every month,

provide lifesaving health care and nutrition services through 400 health care facilities,

and treat 22,000 severely malnourished children this year.

In addition to funding, we must also ensure that aid is delivered as effectively as possible.

The recommendations from the 2022 Inter-Agency Humanitarian Evaluation must be implemented to improve the quality of the response.

But humanitarian teams working on the ground are facing increasing challenges right now.

Bureaucratic restrictions are hampering aid delivery,

And mahram, requiring women to be accompanied by a male guardian, is preventing female aid workers from working. Without them, the response cannot meet the needs of women and girls.

It is vital that the authorities authorise independent assessments and monitoring to ensure aid goes where it is needed most.

We must also listen to the voices and views of ordinary people in Yemen.

This will enable the international response to be accountable to the people we are trying to help.

A return to full-scale conflict has been avoided in Yemen, which is indeed good news.

Now, is the time to build a better future for the Yemeni people.

Parties to the conflict must seize this opportunity for peace, which is the only way to end this humanitarian crisis for good.

March 3, 2023
James Cleverly – 2023 Speech at the UN Human Rights Council
The speech made by James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, on 27 February 2023.
Mr President, 75 years ago, Eleanor Roosevelt dubbed our newly adopted Universal Declaration of Human Rights ‘an international Magna Carta’. She was referring, of course, to that Great Charter’s role in laying the first of the many foundation stones on which the concept of human rights has been built.

In 1215, it established that sovereign power is limited by legal constraint. That States are answerable to their citizens. And that justice requires due process. Inspired by Magna Carta, generations of lawyers and statesmen in the United Kingdom and around the world created what we now call the rule of law.

But for centuries, the rule of law stopped at national borders. Until 1948, our predecessors took a gigantic step forward for humankind and made the rule of law universal.

I’m proud of my country’s long role in the struggle for human rights. A struggle that continues today across the world.

Russia and Ukraine

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and illegal so-called annexations are a blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter.

The Commission of Inquiry, which this Council established last year, has concluded that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine. Abuses and violations of human rights have been committed by Russian forces on a systematic scale: torture and killing of civilians, rape and sexual violence, forced deportation.

The Human Rights Council must condemn Russia’s actions. We cannot allow this behaviour to go unanswered. These barbaric acts must never be repeated. The Ukrainian people must have justice.

That is why this session must renew the Commission of Inquiry’s mandate.

We remind Russia of the international human rights obligations, which it has freely undertaken. And of its obligations under the UN Charter.

We call upon Russia to:

enable humanitarian access into Ukraine and safe passage for civilians

restore human rights, within its own borders and outside, and

to immediately withdraw its forces from Ukraine

Russia

But the Ukrainians are not Putin’s only victims.

We call for the release of all those detained in Russia on political grounds, including Alexei Navalny. And for those imprisoned for their opposition to Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine, like Vladimir Kara Murza, to be freed.

Together with our international partners, the UK has invoked the OSCE’s Moscow Mechanism which evidenced Russia’s repression of its own people.

We will support the UN Special Rapporteur’s work on human rights in Russia. We will attend the trials of human rights defenders in Russia. And we will use sanctions to hold human rights violators to account.

China

Last year, the High Commissioner for Human Rights published a report that found evidence of arbitrary detention, torture, sexual and gender-based violence, forced sterilisation, and the destruction of religious sites taking place in Xinjiang. And it found these abuses may amount to crimes against humanity.

Surely, such serious and well-evidenced findings merit further and proper discussion by this Council. But instead China has consistently sought to deny these findings and obstruct discussion.

I now urge China to engage with the Council and uphold the international obligations into which it has freely entered.

Hong Kong

Last year, the Human Rights Committee published its report on the implementation of the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights in Hong Kong.

Under the National Security Law, independent media outlets have been closed down. The right to freedom of speech and assembly guaranteed in Hong Kong’s Basic Law has been eroded. Those who speak out, including journalists or businessmen like Jimmy Lai, have been arrested.

We call on the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities to uphold the Sino-British Joint Declaration and urge them to implement the recommendations of the HRC Report.

Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, curtailment of women’s human rights, including the ban on women going to university, is unacceptable. We will continue to press the Taliban on these issues.

Iran

In Iran, the killing of Mahsa Amini last September was yet another shocking reminder of the regime’s callous disregard for the lives of its own citizens. Since October, we’ve introduced 5 separate sanctions packages targeting those individuals and entities responsible for serious human rights violations.

We reaffirm our commitment to support the fact-finding mission established by this Council in November. We must ensure that the voice of the Iranian people continues to be heard.

Conclusion

Mr President, the United Kingdom will always ensure that human rights are upheld around the world and that we hold to account those who systematically violate them.

To achieve this, we want this Council to succeed. We will work with our international partners to ensure that it does. And we will back up our words with actions.

Thank you.
March 3, 2023
Leo Docherty – 2023 Speech at the UN Conference on Disarmament

The speech made by Leo Docherty, the Minister for Europe, in Geneva on 27 February 2023.

Every member state of this Conference has the responsibility to work towards a more peaceful and stable world, through disarmament. For the vast majority represented here, that is indeed our shared objective.

But all too often, we see some States doing the opposite.

It is over a year since Russia launched their illegal invasion of Ukraine.

It is an unprovoked, premeditated and barbaric attack against a sovereign democratic state.

And an egregious violation of international law and the UN Charter.

We continue to see mounting evidence of horrific acts committed by Russia’s forces against civilians.

The UK and our allies will continue to support the Ukrainian government in the face of this assault on their existence.

Russia’s announcement last week that it has suspended participation in the New START treaty further shows their willingness to undermine strategic stability.

We continue to urge Russia to immediately return to full compliance of the Treaty and engage constructively with the USA on this matter.

We will continue to explore every diplomatic avenue to uphold international law, and strengthen our collective disarmament architecture.

In addition to major nuclear armed states willing to flout international norms of behaviour, we collectively face a range of challenges.

We face continuing proliferation concerns about the activities of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Iran.

We are concerned with DPRK’s continued escalation of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. We condemn these tests which are in clear breach of United Nations Security Council Resolutions.

We face Assad’s willingness to use chemical weapons.

And emerging threats posed by new and disruptive technologies.

To overcome these we must refresh our thinking, and redouble our commitment to build on the foundations of our common disarmament and non-proliferation institutions.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty – or NPT – remains the cornerstone of international nuclear security. And the only pragmatic route to a world without nuclear weapons in our current security environment.

The UK remains firmly committed to the NPT, and to fulfilling our obligations under all three pillars of the Treaty.

We remain committed to the long-term goal of a world without nuclear weapons.

And firmly believe the best way to achieve this is through gradual multilateral disarmament, negotiated within the framework of the NPT, including in this Conference.

Collectively we have the ability to create a safer and more stable world, where countries with nuclear weapons feel able to relinquish them.

However, the deteriorating security environment means we must remain realistic about what can be achieved in the short term.

The UK is focused on preparing the ground for what can pragmatically be achieved over the next NPT review cycle and beyond.

We are working with other States on the verification and irreversibility challenges, which will need to be addressed as part of final disarmament.

We will continue to play a leading role on transparency, within the limits placed by our non-proliferation obligations and our overarching national security concerns.

We will continue to develop concrete initiatives on reducing the risk of the use of nuclear weapons.

And we will continue to press for the entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

And the beginning of negotiations, in this Conference, on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty – the logical next step along the road to a world without nuclear weapons.

Mr President,

We only have to look to President Putin’s assault against Ukraine…

and Assad’s on his own people…

and the lives blighted by the illicit trade in small arms and lights weapons across the world…

to realise that the use of conventional and chemical weapons remains a present, real and urgent threat.

The diversion and misuse of conventional weapons – particularly small arms and light weapons – costs hundreds of thousands of lives every year…

destroys security and sustainable development…

and fuels conflict, crime and terrorism.

The effective control of conventional weapons and ammunition should therefore be a goal that unites us all.

The United Kingdom was proud to sign up to the Political Declaration on Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas in Dublin in November. I warmly commend the Government of Ireland for its leadership in this endeavour. As Putin’s missiles rained down on Ukrainian homes and civilian infrastructure, the Declaration is a powerful commitment to strengthening the protection of civilians in urban warfare under International Humanitarian Law.

The UK will continue to play a leading role in tackling the scourge of landmines, cluster munitions and other explosive remnants of war, including as a result of the conflict in Ukraine.

We must also do more work together to counter IEDs, and prevent non-State actors and violent extremists from obtaining the components to make them.

The United Kingdom condemns Syria’s use of chemical weapons in Douma and in multiple other attacks.

It is time for the disarmament community to move from severe condemnation to severe consequences, for those that use them.

The UK will continue to work for a world free from chemical and biological weapons, and we urge all states to play a constructive part in this process.

As the Biological Weapons Convention nears its 50th year in force, the UK will strive to make the most of the process we all agreed at last year’s Review Conference to bolster our implementation of this Convention. It represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to meet the evolving threats from biological weapons in the 21st century. We must seize it and endow the Convention with the scientific and technical advice it needs, and explore ways in which new technologies can help assure compliance with its obligations.

Mr President,

Just as the threats we face in the nuclear, biological, chemical and conventional domains have evolved, so it is in outer space.

We are pleased to see progress in the Open-Ended Working Group on reducing space threats through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours.

All of our societies and economies rely on a cooperative approach to the use of technologies in space.

So we encourage all states to engage constructively and work towards a consensus report, that can inform next steps in the UN General Assembly.

This Conference also has a vital role to play in negotiating agreements on preventing an arms race in outer space, whether legally binding or otherwise.

To conclude, Mr President.

The UK is firmly committed to playing a full role in advancing the international disarmament agenda.

And we are grateful for the cooperation of all partners who approach these thorny issues constructively, and with integrity.

Let me point out that many of those partners are not members of this Conference, and are being barred from taking up their rightful seats as observers by the Russian delegation. We deplore this obstructionism, and call for all UN Member States to be allowed to participate in the work of this Conference as has long been our practice.

The challenges facing our collective work are monumental.

We must take a constructive and open-minded approach to finding new solutions to old problems.

But we must also stand by the frameworks and agreements that we have so painstakingly built.

And hold all states accountable to agreed norms and standards, and the commitments they have made.

Thank you.

March 2, 2023
Andrew Mitchell – 2023 Statement on the Turkey and Syria Earthquakes

The statement made by Andrew Mitchell, the Minister of State at the Foreign Office, in the House of Commons on 1 March 2023.

With permission, Madam Deputy Speaker, I will make a statement on the situation in Turkey and Syria. I know that the House will join me in offering sincere condolences to all those affected by the recent earthquakes.

Last week when I visited Turkey, I witnessed at first hand the terrible scale of human suffering. I also had the opportunity to speak to Syrian partners and the United Nations about their work on the immediate response. I pay tribute to the hundreds of British personnel engaged in specialist health, humanitarian and rescue work in Syria and Turkey. I saw for myself the outstanding work that Britain is doing on the ground to save lives and support those who are suffering. Throughout these events and our responses, there has been excellent co-ordination across the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence and the Department of Health and Social Care.

Today, the death toll across Turkey and Syria stands at more than 48,000, and at least 118,000 people have been injured. Approximately 25 million people have been affected, with homes, businesses and key infrastructure destroyed. The further earthquakes on 20 and 27 February, which have tragically led to additional deaths, show that the danger has not passed. In Syria, this disaster adds to years of turmoil inflicted by conflict, striking hardest in the very place that has borne the brunt of Assad’s war machine.

I turn to the initial response. Turkey requested international support immediately after the earthquakes. The UK Government delivered aid as swiftly as possible, working closely with Turkey, the United Nations, international partners, non-governmental organisations and charities. That included deploying a 77-strong search and rescue team in Turkey, along with state-of-the-art heavy equipment. We also quickly announced £4.3 million in new support to Syria Civil Defence—the White Helmets—who have carried out search and rescue operations in 60 villages, helping thousands of civilians. The British Government rapidly engaged with the Turkish Government at the highest level, and the Foreign Secretary, my noble Friend Lord Ahmad and I immediately spoke to the senior UN humanitarian officials to ensure a rapid and co-ordinated response in Syria.

As part of the immediate response, the Ministry of Defence and the Foreign Office set up a field hospital in Türkoğlu, including an emergency department and a 24/7 operating theatre. I saw for myself 150 UK-Med and Ministry of Defence personnel working side by side with Turkish medics to save lives. I was deeply impressed and moved during my visit by the lifesaving work that those teams are doing. Together, they have treated more than 5,000 patients so far.

Meanwhile, the UK has delivered 465 tonnes of relief items to Turkey and Syria through civilian and Royal Air Force flights. That includes tents and thermal blankets for families made homeless in freezing conditions, as well as solar lanterns, water purification tablets and hygiene kits. On 15 February, we announced a further £25 million in funding to bolster our humanitarian response. That is supporting the work of the UN and aid agencies on the ground in Syria, helping communities ravaged by war, as well as by this natural disaster. It also continues to support the recovery effort in Turkey, led by its Government.

Beyond our support to the White Helmets, UK-funded charities and NGOs in northern Syria have cared for the injured through mobile medical teams and health centres. The UN has distributed food and other essential items, to which the UK has contributed. Further assistance will be delivered in the coming days as part of the UN’s Syria cross-border humanitarian fund, to which the UK is one of the most significant donors. The fund has already allocated $50 million to scale up the response. There is a particular focus on displaced families, the elderly, women, children and people with disabilities.

The UK has also supported and bolstered the response through our existing support to key multilateral organisations that are helping in Turkey and Syria. The UN’s global fund, Education Cannot Wait, announced a $7 million grant for Syrian children affected by the earthquake, and the Global Partnership for Education will provide $3.75 million to support the emergency education response. The UK is one of the most significant donors to both funds.

We are also a long-standing partner and donor to the World Bank, which announced $1.7 billion to assist Turkey, and the United Nations central emergency response fund, which has released $50 million for the crisis. Most significantly, our constituents—the British public—have demonstrated extraordinary generosity through the Disasters Emergency Committee appeal, raising more than £100 million. That figure includes £5 million from the UK taxpayer in matched seed funding.

His Majesty the King visited Turkish diaspora groups and members of the British Syrian community at Syria House, a donation point in Trafalgar Square, on 14 February. My right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary visited Syria House on 16 February.

It is clearly vital to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches those who need it as efficiently as possible in Syria. I will continue to engage with the United Nations to ensure maximum access for as long as is required. We welcome the accelerated pace of United Nations deliveries and are monitoring the situation closely in the Security Council in New York.

The House will understand that the scale of this tragedy is immense. The UK will continue to stand in solidarity with Turkey and with the people of Syria during these most testing of times. I commend this statement to the House.

March 2, 2023
Rishi Sunak – 2023 Speech at Munich Security Conference

The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in Munich on 18 February 2023.

The United Kingdom will always be on the side of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.

And the security of our European continent will always be our overriding priority.

Now there’s no greater example of those commitments than our response to the war in Ukraine.

Just this year we became the first country in the world to provide tanks to Ukraine – and the first to train pilots and marines.

We gave £2.3 billion last year – and we will match or exceed that in 2023.

Now other allies can tell a similar story – and our collective efforts are making a difference.

But with every day that passes, Russian forces inflict yet more pain and suffering.

Now the only way to change that is for Ukraine to win.

So we need a military strategy for Ukraine to gain a decisive advantage on the battlefield to win the war, and a political strategy to win the peace.

To win the war, Ukraine needs more artillery, armoured vehicles and air defence.

So now is the moment to double down on our military support.

When Putin started this war, he gambled that our resolve would falter.

Even now, he is betting that we will lose our nerve.

But we proved him wrong then.

And we will prove him wrong now.

Together we’re delivering as much equipment in the next few months as in the whole of 2022.

And together we must help Ukraine to shield its cities from Russian bombs and Iranian drones.

And that’s why the UK will be the first country to provide Ukraine with longer-range weapons.

And it’s why we’re working with our allies to give Ukraine the most advanced air defence systems, and build the air force they need to defend their nation.

Now of course, the UK stands ready to help any country, provide planes that Ukraine can use today.

But we must also train Ukrainian pilots to use the most advanced jets, and that’s exactly what Britain is doing…

So that Ukraine has the capability to defend its security for the long term.

But to win the peace we also need to rebuild the international order on which our collective security depends.

First, that means upholding international law.

The whole world must hold Russia to account.

We must see justice through the ICC for their sickening war crimes committed, whether in Bucha, Irpin, Mariupol or beyond.

And Russia must also be held to account for the terrible destruction it has inflicted.

We are hosting the Ukraine Recovery Conference in London this June.

And we should consider – together – how to ensure that Russia pays towards that reconstruction.

Now second, the treaties and agreements of the post-Cold War era have failed Ukraine.

So we need a new framework for its long-term security.

From human rights to reckless nuclear threats, from Georgia to Moldova, Russia has committed violation after violation against countries outside the collective security of NATO.

And the international community’s response has not been strong enough.

As Jens Stoltenberg has said, “Ukraine will become a member of NATO.”

But until that happens, we need to do more to bolster Ukraine’s long-term security.

We must give them the advanced NATO-standard capabilities that they need for the future.

And we must demonstrate that we’ll remain by their side, willing and able to help them defend their country again and again.

Ukraine needs and deserves assurances of that support.

So ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius we will bring together our friends and allies to begin building those long-term assurances.

And our aim should be to forge a new charter in Vilnius to help protect Ukraine from future Russian aggression.

Now let me conclude with one final thought.

What’s at stake in this war is even greater than the security and sovereignty of one nation.

It’s about the security and sovereignty of every nation.

Because Russia’s invasion, its abhorrent war crimes and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric are symptomatic of a broader threat to everything we believe in.

From the skies over North America to the suffering on the streets of Tehran, some would destabilise the order that has preserved peace and stability for 80 years.

They must not prevail. And we need not be daunted.

As President Zelenskyy said when he addressed the UK Parliament last week, we are marching towards the most important victory of our lifetime. It will be a victory over the very idea of war.

And we could have no greater purpose than to prove him right.

February 19, 2023
Brendan O’Hara – 2023 Speech on the UK Visit of Governor of Xinjiang

The speech made by Brendan O’Hara, the SNP MP for Argyll and Bute, in the House of Commons on 9 February 2023.

The right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) is absolutely right that the Government have handed a propaganda gift to Beijing.

In 2020, the Uyghur tribunal found that, beyond any reasonable doubt, China is responsible for crimes against humanity and the crime of genocide, yet today we find that someone at the heart of those crimes is coming to the UK next week—a man accused by the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China of playing a central role in the persecution of the Uyghurs.

As we have heard, the Government’s position on China has been appallingly weak and goes no further than to urge the Chinese authorities to change their approach. Given that, hitherto, they have failed to move Beijing one iota in its treatment of the Uyghur people, why does the Minister believe that allowing this man to come to the United Kingdom and to meet FCDO officials will suddenly change things? Will it not be exactly the same message that they have given before, and will the Chinese not treat it with exactly the same contempt? Given that that is what will happen, why does the Minister honestly believe that meeting this man will make the slightest difference to Beijing’s approach?

Leo Docherty

The hon. Gentleman is questioning the utility of this kind of diplomacy, and it is a reasonable question, but our judgment, institutionally, is that opportunities to send strong messages to these sorts of individuals are useful and will be taken heed of by the state apparatus. I think the expectation of officials was that an invitation should be extended to Uyghur human rights groups in the UK to enable them to engage with this individual directly and send that strong message. I think that was at the core of the judgment that was made.

Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for making it absolutely clear that this man is not getting in here, even if the Minister is going to give him space in the office. But I ask you this, Sir: is not the very fact that an announcement of his intention to travel has been made—in the language habitual to the Government of China—“a provocation”?

Mr Speaker

That is more for the Minister to answer, even though I am tempted.

Leo Docherty

I think this is an opportunity to send a robust message from our side about everything we judge completely outrageous and unacceptable in Xinjiang. We therefore judge that there is utility in the prospect of officials meeting this individual.

John Cryer (Leyton and Wanstead) (Lab)

Is this the best we can do? This country used to have a tradition—on both sides of the House, in both major parties—of standing up to tyrants, butchers, fascists and great persecutors. That seems to have been abandoned. Is not the only conclusion to be drawn in Beijing from the actions of this Government that we will do nothing to stand up to them?

Leo Docherty

We have stood up to China when it comes to Xinjiang. We have sanctioned individuals, and we continue to make the strongest possible representations. That is in line with our policy of robust pragmatism. We will be robust, but we will also engage and send a strong message when opportunities arise.

February 10, 2023
Alicia Kearns – 2023 Speech on the UK Visit of Governor of Xinjiang

The speech made by Alicia Kearns, the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, in the House of Commons on 9 February 2023.

I congratulate my right hon. Friend the Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) on securing this urgent question but, Minister, I am afraid this is simply not good enough.

In Xinjiang, women are being forcibly sterilised and children are in concentration camps. There are forced labour camps and systematic rape, yet the Minister has just confirmed from the Dispatch Box that Ministers approved of this visit by one of the masterminds of this genocide. Worse, a Cabinet Office Minister claimed this week that the complicity of Chinese state-run companies, such as Hikvision, in Xinjiang is “contested.” Exactly what position are this Government taking? There is no legitimate reason to allow this man, Erkin Tuniyaz, into our country. The only meetings with him should be in a courtroom.

Will the Government now sanction Erkin Tuniyaz, as well as Chen Quanguo, the butcher of Xinjiang? We have to refuse to meet them. Like-minded EU countries have already announced that they will not meet this man when he comes to Brussels. We should not only refuse to meet him, as our like-minded friends have, but we should deny him a visa.

Will we now introduce a sanctions regime specifically for Tibet, where we are seeing the exact same thing? Millions of children have been kidnapped from their parents and put into concentration camps so that they can be assimilated and so that genocide can be committed against their culture. This is wrong. I am sorry, but the Government have to get a grip on China issues. We let Chinese officials flee this country, having given them a week’s notice, and now we are inviting them into the halls of Westminster. It is not good enough. We have to get a grip.

Mr Speaker

I do not think they will be coming to Westminster, as we would have to give permission. Let us not open that debate.

Leo Docherty

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Alicia Kearns) for her long-standing interest. She rightly mentions the suffering of women and children, specifically in Xinjiang, which has moved us all. Our judgment is that Erkin Tuniyaz is not travelling because of an invitation from the Foreign Office. Given that our expectation is that he is travelling on a diplomatic passport and will be here, because he is not sanctioned—

Sir Iain Duncan Smith

Yes—he is not sanctioned. Why is he not sanctioned?

Leo Docherty

Because he is not sanctioned, we therefore judge that this is a useful opportunity to deliver an extremely strong message to this individual. Of course, colleagues will note that there is a differential approach with regard to the US sanctions regime.

Mr Speaker

Order. I am in the Chair. Members are meant to speak through the Chair, not face towards the back of the Chamber.

Leo Docherty

The judgment of Ministers is that such opportunities are useful in offering a chance to express a very forthright condemnation of the outrages in Xinjiang. I think this reflects the Government’s policy of robust pragmatism when it comes to China, which is at the heart of our wanting to continue such dialogue.

February 10, 2023
Catherine West – 2023 Speech on the UK Visit of Governor of Xinjiang

The speech made by Catherine West, the Labour MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, in the House of Commons on 9 February 2023.

I thank the right hon. Member for Chingford and Woodford Green (Sir Iain Duncan Smith) for bringing this urgent question to the House. The issue of Xinjiang has been debated in both Chambers of this Parliament, and following a Back-Bench motion, Members of this House voted that genocide had occurred in this area of China.

In September last year, the UN high commissioner for human rights said that the treatment of the Uyghurs may constitute crimes against humanity, and this House has made clear its view that the treatment of the Uyghurs amounts to genocide. It is therefore deeply worrying to learn of the planned visit to the UK of the governor of the very province in which these outrageous and systemic acts have taken place. Has the Minister made an assessment of the relationship between Chen Quanguo, who is an international pariah, and this particular individual?

I am acutely aware of, and in principle agree with, the general points that the Minister has made about engagement. However, we have to be very robust with regard to human rights. Is the meeting essential to UK-China relations? I do not think it is. I fear that this planned visit to the UK highlights the serious lack of political leadership at the Foreign Office. The Minister knows the views of this House and should have made it clear that this meeting was ill-judged and inappropriate.

When were Ministers first made aware of the planned visit, and did it receive personal approval from the Foreign Secretary? What assessment has been made of the moral injury that this would cause to the Uyghur minority in this country, who have come to the Houses of Parliament to tell us of their suffering? Has this decision been informed by the moral injury that it will cause? Finally, will the invitation to visit the UK now be rescinded? What action will the Foreign Office take as a result of this urgent question?

Leo Docherty

I am grateful for the constructive tone and characteristic interest that the hon. Lady shows. Is this meeting essential? We judge that this might be an opportunity to send a very strong message to someone who is involved in the governance of Xinjiang. That is at the heart of the judgment that was made about this opportunity.

The hon. Lady asked when Ministers were aware. I know that Ministers were aware in the usual, routine way and made a judgment that, on balance, it was useful to endorse the prospect of officials engaging with this individual.

The hon. Lady makes a good point about the risk of moral injury. It is important to say that, with regard to this specific proposition, FCDO officials were keen to invite Uyghur human rights groups in the UK so that they have an opportunity to express their views to this individual as a means of delivering a very strong message of condemnation. That judgment was at the heart of the decision, but she makes a good point about moral injury.

The hon. Lady asked whether the invitation will be rescinded and, of course, it is not an invitation. The FCDO did not invite this individual. Our expectation is that he is travelling on a diplomatic passport. I am grateful to have been able to answer these questions, and I am grateful for her constructive spirit.

February 10, 2023
Iain Duncan Smith – 2023 Speech on the UK Visit of Governor of Xinjiang

The speech made by Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the Conservative MP for Chingford and Woodford Green, in the House of Commons on 9 February 2023.

I find that response from my hon. Friend, for whom I have the highest respect, to be a very weak turn from the Foreign Office. The Uyghur region in north-west China has been the site of severe human rights violations, crimes against humanity and genocide for more than six years. In 2017, satellite imagery confirmed that a network of internment camps had been set up throughout the region. Throughout this time, Erkin Tuniyaz has been responsible for the murderous and repressive policy, alongside its architect, Chen Quango.

Testimony from camp survivors—who are absolutely appalled to hear that a Foreign Office official will meet this individual—and leaked official Chinese Government documents, satellite images and drone footage indicate that the camps are sites of severe mass arbitrary detention and severe human rights abuses, including systematic sexual violence against women, torture and the forced sterilisation of many women. Reports of cultural and religious oppression, mass digital in-person surveillance, forced labour, mass sterilisations and abortions and a system of mass criminalisation and arbitrary detention are also completely documented.

The weak response from the Foreign Office hides something. It is not that it has invited him here, but it has made it clear that when he comes, he will be welcome to see officials. Whether or not the Foreign Office is tough, this is a propaganda coup for the Chinese Government. Governor Tuniyaz has defended the use of mass detention centres and doubled down and expanded their use. During his tenure, more than 1 million Uyghurs and other people from predominantly Muslim minorities have been detained in Xinjiang. A man who declares that nothing is going on is hardly likely to be bothered by a Foreign Office official telling him, “Now, now, you’ve got to stop this.”

I remind my hon. Friend the Minister that in 2021, the House of Commons in this United Kingdom declared for the first time that genocide is taking place against the Uyghurs and other minorities in the Xinjiang region of China. Let us compare our response with that of the United States. The UK has sanctioned only three rather junior people. The US has introduced 107 punitive sanctions, five new laws, 11 specific investment bans and 10 sanctions on individuals, including Chen Quanguo and Erkin Tuniyaz. I call on the UK Government to rescind this invitation and sanction Erkin Tuniyaz and Chen Quanguo for their role in this crime against humanity and genocide. The place to deal with these individuals is in a tribunal or court of law, not in the quiet office of a Foreign Office official.

Leo Docherty

I appreciate sincerely the long-standing interest of my right hon. Friend in this issue, and he speaks with great sincerity and power. He draws a comparison with the sanctions regime in the US. The numbers might be different, but that reflects our desire and approach to use these opportunities to deliver a very strong and robust message. It is institutionally the judgment of the FCDO that we are better off not denying ourselves the opportunity to send extremely robust and strong messages of condemnation of the brutality that has been carried out by the Chinese state in Xinjiang. He alluded to that difference of approach, but we are confident in its utility.

My understanding is that, in advance of the suggestion of this meeting, the invitation was extended to human rights groups in the UK to afford them the opportunity to send a very strong message to this individual about their view of repression in Xinjiang. That was at the heart of what was judged to be useful about the prospect of such a meeting.

February 10, 2023
Leo Docherty – 2023 Statement on the UK Visit of Governor of Xinjiang

The statement made by Leo Docherty, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, in the House of Commons on 9 February 2023.

We understand from the Chinese embassy that the governor of Xinjiang may visit the UK next week. To be very clear, he has not been invited by the UK Government or the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and we have no confirmation that he will, in fact, travel. Our expectation is that he will travel on a diplomatic passport, and therefore he has not yet been granted a visa. If he does visit, I assure this House that under no circumstances will he be dignified with a ministerial meeting.

China’s actions in Xinjiang are abhorrent and we will not legitimise them in any way. However, robust engagement to challenge human rights violations and to stand up for the rights of the oppressed is at the core of the UK’s diplomatic work around the world. We must be prepared to use diplomatic channels to achieve that end, hence officials would be prepared to offer him a meeting. In line with that principle, there is only one reason why such a meeting would take place—to make absolutely clear the UK’s abhorrence of the treatment of the Uyghur people and to say that we will not relent from exposing the horrors to which they are subject. That point needs to be set out clearly to China. It is only right that people responsible for human rights violations are confronted on these issues.

The UK has played a leading role in international efforts to hold China to account on Xinjiang. In 2019, we became the first country to step up to lead a joint statement on China’s actions in Xinjiang at the UN. Since that first statement, which was supported by 23 countries, we have worked tirelessly through our global diplomatic network to broaden the caucus of countries speaking out. Our leadership has sustained pressure on China to change its behaviour and consistently increase the number of countries speaking out. Most recently, our diplomatic effort helped to secure the support of a record 50 countries for a statement on Xinjiang at the UN third committee in October.

We have imposed sanctions on four individuals and one entity in Xinjiang, and have introduced robust measures to tackle forced labour in supply chains. We have consistently raised our concerns at the highest level in Beijing. Let me be absolutely clear that we will continue to emphasise at all levels that the world is watching what China’s authorities say and do in Xinjiang. They cannot hide their abuses. The UK and our allies will not turn away.

February 10, 2023