British politicians - Banned by Beijing, still standing up for freedom
Facts4EU.Org highlights extreme measures taken by Communist China against UK MPs and EU MEPs
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021
We place the spotlight on the growing problem for the UK public that is totalitarian China
NOTE: Does China seem a remote topic to you? It may not be for much longer
What follows addresses issues that could soon affect the British public, with the UK’s massive volume of Chinese imports, Chinese investments in the UK, and influence on our universities under question. And this is to say nothing about human rights and forced labour.
Some British Parliamentarians now cannot even enter China, let alone speak there
It seems that in today’s China of its increasingly despotic President Xi Jinping, dissent is not tolerated in any form. This totalitarian approach now extends to anyone, anywhere in the world – including British and European parliamentarians – who dare to speak out about the appalling human rights violations being perpetrated by the Chinese, or about its lack of compliance with international laws and treaties, including those it has signed up to.
Here is Tim Loughton MP, speaking exclusively to Facts4EU.Org yesterday:-
“China’s extraordinary decision to sanction five backbench Conservative MPs who dared to call out that Government’s industrial scale human rights abuses against its own people has been a massive own goal.”
Mr Loughton went on to speak about:
“...the international campaign to stand up to China’s international bullying that has been triggered by the Chinese Communist Party’s actions, badly misjudging how free speech works in a democracy.”
Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing & Shoreham, Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China
Being banned by Beijing means being unable to travel there and unable to do any business with China
The People’s Republic of China’s Foreign Ministry said sanctions were being imposed for “severely harming China’s sovereignty and interests and maliciously spreading lies and disinformation.”
Sir Iain Duncan Smith – one of those banned by the Chinese Communist Party – told the BBC:
“Those of us who live free lives under the rule of law must speak for those who have no voice. If that brings the anger of China down upon me then I shall wear that as a badge of honour.”
Lt Col Tom Tugendhat MP MBE, who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told the BBC:
“I view this as a direct assault on British democracy and an attempt to silence the British people who have chosen me to speak for them.”
Ms Ghani appeared on the Today Programme where she said:
“I won't be intimidated. This has now made me even more determined to speak out about the Uighurs.”
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Banned by Beijing - The Roll of Honour
- Rt Hon Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP
- Tom Tugendhat MP (Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee)
- Nusrat Ghani MP (former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Aviation and Maritime)
- Neil O’Brien MP (Head of the Conservative policy board and China Research Group officer)
- Tim Loughton MP (Member of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China)
- Lord (David) Alton
- Baroness (Helena) Kennedy QC
- Baroness (Helena) Morrissey
- Sir Geoffrey Nice QC
- Dr Joanne Smith Finley from Newcastle University
Entities which have been sanctioned include :
- The China Research Group
- The Conservative Human Rights Commission
- The Essex Court Chambers
Remarkably, this is one issue which is shared by the EU Parliament
The issue of China and its behaviour is something concerning democrats all over the world, including in the EU Parliament. To date five MEPs have been sanctioned by China, as well as the members of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, MPs in Member State parliaments, the EU Council’s Political and Security Committee, and think tanks.
The Political and Security Committee of the Council of the EU comprises the Ambassadors of the 27 EU Member States, two academics (Adrian Zenz and Björn Jerdén), and two think tanks (Mercator Institute for China Studies in Germany and the Alliance of Democracies Foundation in Denmark).
For the People's Republic of China to sanction the Ambassadors to the EU from the 27 EU Member States is quite extraordinary, as these diplomats quite evidently represent their national governments.
Major blow to the plans of Ursula von der Leyen, President Macron and Chancellor Merkel
The EU Commission’s China agreements – agreed or planned – are now being blocked by EU Parliament. Two weeks ago (16 Sep) the EU Parliament passed a motion which set out its proposed new EU-China strategy. The motion passed by 570 votes in favour, 61 against with 40 abstentions.
Whilst the EU Parliament cannot generate legislation, these days it has powers of veto over EU policy. One such veto is over the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI). In May of this year the EU Parliament froze any discussions about ratifying this until China removes sanctions from MEPs, academics, and others.
EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment
The EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) was finally agreed in principle on 30 December last year (2020) between the Commission and the PRC government, and it was published on 22 Jan 2021. To be ratified this must receive the approval of the EU Parliament in a formal plenary vote.
The vote in the EU Parliament in overwhelming favour of its ‘new EU-China Strategy’ re-confirms that the CAI will not be ratified until China removes sanctions from MEPs, member state MPs, academics, and others.
Following the vote in the EU Parliament two weeks ago, the Parliament’s lead person on China stated:
“We must not be naive when dealing with China. Whilst China is an important trading partner, it is also a systemic rival that poses a challenge to our way of life and the liberal world order. Economic gains should not make us blind to the Chinese Communist Party's ambitious political agenda, its increasingly assertive foreign policy and its repressions in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.”
Observations
These days it takes persons of principle and courage to stand out against the totalitarian Chinese regime, in favour of freedom of speech, basic human rights, and the upholding of international law.
The individuals we have cited above have done just that, and have been singled out for punishment. As Sir Iain Duncan Smith says, this is a ‘badge of honour’ which they can all wear with pride.
We’re all going to be hearing a lot more about China
The simple fact is that since Xi-Jinping became Chinese President in 2013, developments in the world’s most populous country have become deeply worrying. In 2018, Mr Xi abolished presidential term limits, which effectively gives him life tenure. Western governments, including those of the United Kingdom and the European Union, have been relatively slow to react. In the US and in countries such as the US, Australia, and other Indo-Pacific nations, the moods started changing several years ago.
Now is the time for other great world democracies to catch up.
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[ Sources: Tim Loughton MP | BBC | EU Parliament ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 01 Oct 2021
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