New Delhi: Britain has refused permission to a high-level Chinese government delegation based in the Kingdom of Queen Elizabeth at Westminster Hall within the Parliament complex ahead of the funeral at Westminster Abbey here on Friday, according to UK media reports on Friday. .
Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, is said to have caused Chinese sanctions against five British members of parliament and two peers in Xinjiang, ‘Politico’ and the BBC for accusing Beijing of mistreating its Uighur Muslim minority A request for access to Westminster Hall was denied. have reported.
While the House of Commons said it did not comment on security matters, media reports claimed that China would be present at the funeral but would not be allowed into the Parliament House. As Westminster Hall is part of parliamentary property, it is under the control of the Speakers of the Commons and Lord. The move is expected to further strain UK-China relations, which have been under some pressure in recent days.
According to reports, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping as the head of state of the country with which the UK has diplomatic relations. It is believed that along with the Chinese delegation, Vice President Wang Qishan will also be sent in his place.
The latest developments came after approved lawmakers objected to the invitation of the Chinese President to the funeral.
In March last year, China banned nine individuals and four organizations in the UK in retaliation after China imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses in Britain’s Xinjiang province.
Former Conservative Party leader Sir Ian Duncan Smith, as well as Tory MPs Tom Tugendhat, Neil O’Brien, Tim Lawton and Nusrat Ghani were among those banned from entering Chinese territory and their families.
“You can’t have a golden age, normal relationship, with a country that has now been exposed as tyranny, not least the genocide against the Uighurs, going on in Tibet for the last 60/70 years. Harassment, and what we see now is happening in Hong Kong as well,” Lawton told the BBC.
