British lawmakers sanctioned for raising concerns about human rights 'banned from meeting Chinese officials’
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/35813862
[British] MPs have claimed they were banned from attending a meeting between Chinese officials and an arm of the Foreign Office at the request of Beijing.
The Great Britain China Centre (GBCC), an arms-length body of the Foreign Office, will host Chinese officials this month, with MPs invited to attend.
But those who have been sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party for raising concerns about human rights abuses said they were told they will not be welcome because Chinese officials may not be authorised to meet with them.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) said to let China decide who was allowed to attend would be “subjugating the interests of our people to those of an authoritarian dictatorship”.
The Times understands that GBCC officials contacted Ipac, which has members from parliaments across the world, to ask if any of its MPs wanted to join the discussion.
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Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister and one of those who has been sanctioned, told The Times: “I’m sure the FCDO did not intend to reinforce China’s sanctions that ministers have told us they’ve raised frequently in Beijing. It appears this message got lost in translation. I hope the government will seize the opportunity to reassure parliament that we will not allow ourselves to be divided according to the designs of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader who is also on the sanctions list, said he was “sure [the decision] was made by the Chinese state and the Great British China Centre should have the guts to say to them we don’t do meetings like that”. He added: “We don’t ban certain people. That shows a lack of courage on their part.”
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.sdf.org/post/35813862
[British] MPs have claimed they were banned from attending a meeting between Chinese officials and an arm of the Foreign Office at the request of Beijing.
The Great Britain China Centre (GBCC), an arms-length body of the Foreign Office, will host Chinese officials this month, with MPs invited to attend.
But those who have been sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party for raising concerns about human rights abuses said they were told they will not be welcome because Chinese officials may not be authorised to meet with them.
The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (Ipac) said to let China decide who was allowed to attend would be “subjugating the interests of our people to those of an authoritarian dictatorship”.
The Times understands that GBCC officials contacted Ipac, which has members from parliaments across the world, to ask if any of its MPs wanted to join the discussion.
[...]
Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister and one of those who has been sanctioned, told The Times: “I’m sure the FCDO did not intend to reinforce China’s sanctions that ministers have told us they’ve raised frequently in Beijing. It appears this message got lost in translation. I hope the government will seize the opportunity to reassure parliament that we will not allow ourselves to be divided according to the designs of the Chinese Communist Party.”
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader who is also on the sanctions list, said he was “sure [the decision] was made by the Chinese state and the Great British China Centre should have the guts to say to them we don’t do meetings like that”. He added: “We don’t ban certain people. That shows a lack of courage on their part.”
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I’m sure the FCDO did not intend to reinforce China’s sanctions
When they kowtow just by accident LMAO