Hong Kong officials involved in targeting UK-based pro-democracy activists who had bounties placed on them should be subject to sanctions, opposition and Tory backbenchers have urged the UK government. A Foreign Office minister responding to concerns raised in parliament was also challenged by one of her Conservative colleagues over her recent meeting with a Chinese official whom the Tory MP Tim Loughton described as “China’s chief dissident snatcher”. MPs were discussing an urgent question in the House of Commons after Hong Kong police on Monday offered a reward equal to…
Tag: Politics
The Guardian view on banning council boycotts: a blow to local democracy | Editorial
In the early 1980s, Margaret Thatcher described the African National Congress as a “typical terrorist organisation” and one of her MPs said that Nelson Mandela should be shot. In sharp contrast, British councils took a stand against apartheid by boycotting South African goods. Mayors around the world signed a declaration calling for the release of the man who would become not only his country’s leader, but a global icon of democracy and justice. These efforts helped to shift public attitudes towards the struggle for freedom. In an increasingly globalised world,…
Chinese couple barred from UK over Communist party donation allegations
A pair of wealthy Chinese nationals have been barred from entering the UK after the government accused them of being involved in making donations to British political figures on behalf of the Chinese Communist party. The married couple, both of whom had leave to remain in the UK, received the bans last year, but details of their exclusion have only now emerged in a case before a secretive immigration tribunal. A recent ruling in the case has revealed how the Home Office wrote to the individuals in March 2022, informing…
Sunak urged to rethink visit by Chinese official accused of deporting dissidents
A cross-party group of British MPs and peers has written to the prime minister urging him to reconsider a decision to allow a visit this week by a senior Chinese government official accused of overseeing the forcible deportation of hundreds of dissidents back to China, including some from the UK. Liu Jianchao, the head of the international department of the Communist party of China central committee, is due to speak at the Chatham House thinktank and meet UK parliamentarians. Victims of China’s transnational extraditions and their families are exploring if…
China has closed unofficial ‘police stations’ in Britain, UK minister says
The UK security minister, Tom Tugendhat, has said China has closed its reported “police service stations” at sites across Britain, and that an investigation did not reveal any illegal activity by the Chinese state at these sites. Britain has previously said reports of undeclared police stations in the country were “extremely concerning” and that any intimidation on British soil of foreign nationals by China or other states was unacceptable. China has denied operating any such stations and issued a statement contesting Tugendhat’s remarks via its embassy in London, saying the…
Labour and SNP face byelection battle after Margaret Ferrier suspension – UK politics live
From 3h ago MPs vote to suspend Margaret Ferrier from Commons, paving way for key Labour/SNP byelection battle The Commons has voted to suspend Margaret Ferrier for 30 days by 185 votes to 40 – a majority of 145. That means a recall byelection in Rutherglen and Hamilton West can now go ahead, provided 10% of voters sign a petition calling for one. This threshold should be met quite comfortably. In 2019 Ferrier won the seat for the SNP with a majority over Labour of 5,230. But Labour has already…
China poses biggest threat to global security, says Sunak
China poses the biggest challenge to global security and prosperity of our age with the “means and intent to reshape the world order”, Rishi Sunak has said. The UK prime minister said G7 leaders including Japan, the US, Canada and European nations had shown “unity and resolve” in confronting the problems posed by Beijing. The statement from the G7 nations referred to “de-risking” rather than “de-coupling” from their relationship with China amid warnings from France that the summit should not be seen as being anti-Beijing. However, Sunak went further than…
Sunak to urge G7 support for collective action against ‘economic coercion’
The UK and other G7 countries are planning collective action against Russia and China if they threaten trade boycotts for political reasons, announcing a new body to deal with “economic coercion”. Rishi Sunak will urge “bold and pragmatic collective action” against hostile states that stop trading with other countries when they disagree with their geopolitical decisions. He will cite Russia’s stranglehold on European gas supplies last year as a situation that could have been met with a collective response. Other examples include China’s punitive tariffs on Australian wine after Canberra…
China aims to subordinate the west, claims US politician on UK visit
Beijing wants to “subordinate and humiliate” the west, according to the Republican chair of a newly created China committee in Congress, who is leading a delegation of hawkish US politicians on a two-day trip to the UK. Mike Gallagher argued that China, under President Xi Jinping, believed in “the inevitable demise of capitalism”, and said he hoped to better understand how far British politicians of all parties shared his committee’s concerns. The goal of Beijing, Gallagher argued, was “to render us subordinate, humiliated and irrelevant on the world stage and…
UK’s £1bn strategy for semiconductor industry lacks ambition, say critics
The UK government has announced an investment of up to £1bn in the domestic semiconductor industry, but has been criticised for declining to join the spending race that has seen the US and EU announce significantly bigger programmes. Labour accused the government of lacking ambition in its announcement, while one UK startup said the £1bn figure was less than the cost of one basic semiconductor plant. The UK’s long-awaited national semiconductor strategy would focus on the country’s existing strengths in the technology. Semiconductors, or microchips, are the “brains” of electronic…