House of Commons

Foreign Affairs Committee

Hong Kong: China’s ban on the Committee’s visit

Seventh Report of Session 2014–15

Report, together with formal minutes relating to the report

Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed 10 December 2014

HC 842 Published on 10 December 2014

by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited

£0.00

The Foreign Affairs Committee

The Foreign Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its associated public bodies.

Current membership

Rt Hon Sir Richard Ottaway MP (Conservative, Croydon South) (Chair) Mr John Baron MP (Conservative, Basildon and Billericay) Rt Hon Sir Menzies Campbell QC MP (Liberal Democrat, North East Fife) Rt Hon Ann Clwyd MP (Labour, Cynon Valley) Mike Gapes MP (Labour/Co-operative, Ilford South) Mark Hendrick MP (Labour/Co-operative, Preston) Sandra Osborne MP (Labour, Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock) Andrew Rosindell MP (Conservative, Romford) Mr Frank Roy MP (Labour, Motherwell and Wishaw) Rt Hon Sir John Stanley MP (Conservative, Tonbridge and Malling) Nadhim Zahawi MP (Conservative, Stratford-on-Avon)

Powers

The committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the internet via www.parliament.uk.

Publication

Committee reports are published on the Committee’s website at www.parliament.uk/facom and by The Stationery Office by Order of the House.

Committee staff

The current staff of the Committee are Kenneth Fox (Clerk), Peter McGrath (Second Clerk), Zoe Oliver-Watts (Senior Committee Specialist), Dr Ariella Huff, (Committee Specialist), Sen Rudran (Inquiry Manager), Clare Genis (Senior Committee Assistant), Su Panchanathan (Committee Assistant), and Alex Paterson (Media Officer).

Contacts

All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Foreign Affairs Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 6105; the Committee’s email address is FAC@parliament.uk

Hong Kong: China’s ban on the Committee’s visit 1

Contents Page

Report 3

Conclusions and recommendations 5

Appendix 6

Formal Minutes 8

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Hong Kong: China’s ban on the Committee’s visit 3

Report

1. In July 2014, we launched an inquiry into the UK’s relations with Hong Kong, 30 years after the signing of the Joint Declaration. As part of this inquiry, we planned to visit Hong Kong to speak to a wide range of interlocutors about the UK-Hong Kong relationship. The Chinese and Hong Kong authorities informed us that they considered this to be interference in China’s internal affairs and they urged us to halt our inquiry. We replied that the Joint Declaration was a legitimate subject of inquiry and that our work was focused on the policies of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, as part of the UK Government. We declined to end our inquiry, considering that it would be an abrogation of our responsibilities to the House.

2. On 28 November, the Chinese Deputy Ambassador informed us that the Chinese government would take any necessary measures to prevent the Committee from visiting Hong Kong, forcing us to postpone our visit. It was made clear that we would be prevented from entering Hong Kong, despite the fact that, as UK nationals, we did not need a visa for entry. We consider the ban by China on our visit to Hong Kong in 2014 to be unprecedented, and we see it as an obstruction to the conduct of our parliamentary duties. We will continue to engage with the Chinese and Hong Kong authorities in the hope that the trip can be rescheduled.

3. On 2 December the House of Commons held an Emergency Debate on China’s ban on our visit.1 Those who took part were unanimous in expressing concern about the ban, which was described as “an extremely serious occurrence”2 and an insult to the House of Commons.3 We agree. In his response, the FCO Minister the Rt Hon Hugo Swire said that the decision to bar the Committee from visiting was “wholly unjustified, counter-productive and […] unprecedented.”4 He added that “the Government have been emphasising the context and importance of the inquiry at senior levels through official channels in Beijing, Hong Kong and London.”5

4. The Minister has since written to us with more detail on how the FCO has made the Government’s position on the FAC’s inquiry clear to China. He states that the UK’s Ambassador to China has raised the issue with three ministers in Beijing; that the British Consul General in Hong Kong has raised it with the acting Commissioner of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong; and that senior FCO officials have also contacted their counterparts. In London, the FCO has raised it with the Chinese Embassy’s Chargé d’Affaires (in the absence of the Ambassador), and the Minister and Foreign Secretary have both raised the issue with their ministerial counterparts. It is not clear how

1 HC Deb 2 Dec 2014: Col 162

2 HC Deb 2 Dec 2014: Column 196 [Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown]

3 HC Deb 2 Dec 2014: Column 171 [Sir Gerald Kaufman]

4 HC Deb 2 Dec 2014: Column 203

5 HC Deb 2 Dec 2014: Column 205

4 Hong Kong: China’s ban on the Committee’s visit

much of this contact in London, Beijing and Hong Kong took place since the absolute ban on our visit (delivered to us on 28 November) and how much took place beforehand.6

5. We thank the FCO for its efforts to assist the Committee and we welcome the contact it has already had with senior ministers and officials in China about the ban. However, we consider that the Minister’s reply did not go far enough, given the gravity of the circumstances and the insult to the House of Commons and to the UK as a whole. We call on the Government to respond more robustly to this unprecedented act by the Chinese government. We recommend that the FCO raise this matter with its partners in the European Union. In particular, we recommend that the Government summon the Chinese Ambassador in London to the Foreign Office, and make formal written protests to its counterparts in Beijing and Hong Kong.

6 See letter of 4 December, appendix 1

Hong Kong: China’s ban on the Committee’s visit 5

Conclusions and recommendations

1. We consider the ban by China on our visit to Hong Kong in 2014 to be unprecedented, and we see it as an obstruction to the conduct of our parliamentary duties. (Paragraph 2)

2. We thank the FCO for its efforts to assist the Committee and we welcome the contact it has already had with senior ministers and officials in China about the ban. However, we consider that the Minister’s reply did not go far enough, given the gravity of the circumstances and the insult to the House of Commons and to the UK as a whole. We call on the Government to respond more robustly to this unprecedented act by the Chinese government. We recommend that the FCO raise this matter with its partners in the European Union. In particular, we recommend that the Government summon the Chinese Ambassador in London to the Foreign Office, and make formal written protests to its counterparts in Beijing and Hong Kong. (Paragraph 5)

6 Hong Kong: China’s ban on the Committee’s visit

Appendix

Letter from the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Rt Hon Sir Richard Ottaway MP, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee

I am writing further to the emergency debate on Tuesday on Hong Kong. This was an important debate and I was sorry not to have had time to respond fully to all questions, so I have covered the remaining points here.

In response to the questions from Frank Roy MP, let me assure the Committee that the Government has been robust in response to the decision to refuse the Committee’s entry to Hong Kong. We have emphasised repeatedly the independence of the Foreign Affairs Committee from Government, and made clear that we could and would not try to influence them. Nevertheless, we defend the responsibility of the Committee to scrutinise Government policy and, as I said to the House, we have made clear that the refusal of their entry is wholly unjustified, counter-productive, and not in the spirit of the Sino-British Joint Declaration.

We have made our position clear in Beijing, Hong Kong and London. Her Majesty’s Ambassador to China, Sir Sebastian Wood, has raised this with Vice Premier Ma Kai, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Chao and the Vice Foreign Minister of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party Xu Lanping. Senior officials have also done so on several occasions with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In Hong Kong, the British Consul General, Caroline Wilson, has set out our position with the acting Commissioner of the Chinese MFA in Hong Kong, as did the Head of FCO China Department with the Hong Kong Solicitor General last week.

In London, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming is currently out of the country but the FCO has raised this in his absence with the Chargé d’Affaires at the Chinese Embassy. I have also personally delivered these messages to Vice Minister of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party Guo Yezhou and to Ambassador Liu before his departure; and the Foreign Secretary has done so in a meeting with Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Kerry McCarthy MP questioned Government policy on arms exports. Let me be clear: as the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills explained to Parliament in his letter of 28 October, the Government carried out a comprehensive review of licences for tear gas to Hong Kong. Each licence application is rigorously examined against international criteria and we will revoke or suspend licences that no longer meet these criteria. After carefully reviewing one current licence, the Government decided it would not be revoked on the basis that it does not contravene international criteria. Recent events (which have not involved the use of tear gas) have not changed that assessment.

As I said to the House, we have publicly welcomed the Hong Kong police’s commitment to exercise tolerance and underlined the importance of demonstrators expressing their views peacefully in accordance with the law. Equally, it is vital that Hong Kong citizens’

Hong Kong: China’s ban on the Committee’s visit 7

fundamental rights and freedoms, including of assembly and demonstration, continue to be respected, in line with the Sino-British Joint Declaration. The Foreign Office continues to monitor the situation in Hong Kong very closely and will provide further advice on export licensing as necessary.

I can assure the House that the Government will of course continue to be as helpful as we can to the FAC inquiry, and that we will maintain our own regular programme of engagement with Hong Kong. I look forward to giving evidence to the Committee in the New Year.

I am copying this letter to all Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and to Kerry McCarthy MP.

Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP Minister of State 4 December 2014

8 Hong Kong: China’s ban on the Committee’s visit

Formal Minutes

Wednesday 10 December 2014

Members present:

Sir Richard Ottaway, in the Chair

Mr John Baron Mike Gapes Sandra Osborne

Mr Frank Roy Sir John Stanley Nadhim Zahawi

Draft Report (Hong Kong: China’s ban on the Committee’s visit), proposed by the Chair, brought up and read.

Ordered, That the draft Report be read a second time, paragraph by paragraph.

Paragraph 1 read and agreed to.

Paragraph 2 read, amended and agreed to.

Paragraphs 3 and 4 read and agreed to.

Paragraph 5 read, amended and agreed to.

A Paper was appended to the Report as Appendix 1.

Resolved, That the Report be the Seventh Report of the Committee to the House.

Ordered, That the Chair make the Report to the House.

[Adjourned till Tuesday 16 December at 1.45 pm