Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-09-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions the Government has had with the Chinese government on disputed islands in the South China Sea.

Alok Sharma

We raise our concerns about maritime tensions in the South China Sea regularly in bilateral meetings with China, including at Ministerial level. The former Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), discussed the South China Sea directly with his Chinese counterpart a number of times this year, for instance during his visits to Beijing in January and April, emphasising the importance of compliance with international law and the need to settle disputes by peaceful means. We have also made our views known to China and other claimants through supporting public statements on the issue by the G7 and the European Union.