The Chinese ambassador to Britain has been banned from attending an occasion within the British Parliament because Beijing imposed sanctions on lawmakers who highlighted alleged right abuses in Xinjiang.
China placed the sanctions on nine British politicians, lawyers and a tutorial in March for spreading what it said were “lies and disinformation” the over the treatment of Uighur Muslims within the country’s far west.
Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker of the House of Commons, and John McFall, the speaker of the House of Lords, stepped in to stop Zheng Zeguang from speaking at an occasion in parliament.
I regularly hold meetings with ambassadors from across the planet to determine enduring ties between countries and parliamentarians,” Hoyle said.
“But I don’t feel it’s appropriate for the ambassador for China to satisfy on the Commons estate and in our place of labor when his country has imposed sanctions against a number of our members.”
A Chinese embassy spokesperson criticised the move.
The despicable and cowardly action of certain individuals of the united kingdom Parliament to obstruct normal exchanges and cooperation between China and therefore the UK for private political gains is against the needs and harmful to the interests of the peoples of both countries,” a Chinese statement said.
Hoyle said he wasn’t banning the Chinese ambassador permanently, but only while the sanctions remained in situ .
Richard Graham, chairman of the All Party Parliamentary China Group, had given a call for participation to Zheng during the summer, the Daily Telegraph said.
Graham didn’t answer an invitation for comment. The All Party Parliamentary China Group declined to comment.
China sanctioned five British lawmakers, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith and Tom Tugendhat, the chairman of parliament’s foreign affairs committee.
The targeted individuals and their immediate relations are prohibited from entering Chinese territory and Chinese citizens and institutions are prohibited from doing business with them.
China took the action after Britain, the us , the ecu Union and Canada imposed parallel sanctions on senior Chinese officials accused of the mass internment of Uighurs in Xinjiang.
Tim Loughton, a Conservative politician targeted by the sanctions, welcomed the choice to bar the ambassador from the event.
He said China couldn’t think “they can pack up free speech by parliamentarians during a democracy”.
At the time the sanctions were imposed, Britain condemned the move as an effort by Beijing to stifle criticism.
London and Beijing are trading angry words over a variety of issues, including China’s reforms in former British colony Hong Kong and China’s national trading policy .
Activists and U.N. rights experts say a minimum of 1,000,000 Muslims are detained in camps in Xinjiang. The activists and a few Western politicians accuse China of using torture, forced labour and sterilisations.
China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational education and are needed to fight extremism.
