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1130978

registered interest
date	10/06/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Hong Kong: Politics and Government
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of the Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	262375
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/06/2019 answer text <p>British diplomats meet people representing the full spectrum of peaceful political views in Hong Kong, in line with normal diplomatic practice.</p><p>Hong Kong citizens are guaranteed the right to freedom of assembly and demonstration under the Sino-British Joint Declaration and the Basic Law. Hong Kong's success and stability depend on its high degree of autonomy and respect for the fundamental rights and freedoms enshrined in the Joint Declaration and the Basic Law.</p><p> </p><p> </p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 17/06/2019 15:11:11 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1130511

registered interest
date	06/06/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	China: Human Rights and Civil Society
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the protection of civil society groups and human rights in that country.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	261229
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>We remain concerned about the lack of protection of civil society groups and the failure to respect civil and political rights in China. We currently have particular concerns relating to the persecution of certain ethnic minorities, including Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang; the use of the death penalty; and reductions in freedom of expression, association and assembly; and limits on freedom of religion or belief.</p><p> </p><p>While I have not made recent representations to my Chinese counterpart on the protection of civil society groups and human rights in China, the British Government remains committed to raising these issues with the Chinese authorities, and will continue to do so. The Prime Minister spoke about human rights during her most recent visit to China. Additionally, the Foreign Secretary highlighted his concerns about human rights in China with State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his last visit to China in July 2018; I also did the same with my counterpart earlier that month.</p><p> </p><p>Moreover, we highlight our human rights concerns publicly in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office's Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy – the 2019 report was published earlier this month. The United Kingdom has also taken regular action bilaterally and multilaterally, including in the March 2019 session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, to support civil society groups in the country. During China’s last Universal Periodic Review, we asked China publically what steps it is taking to ensure these groups are protected from detention and harassment. The Foreign Secretary has also raised the cases of detained human rights lawyers, including Wang Quanzheng and Yu Wensheng, with Chinese Government Ministers.</p><p>​</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 13/06/2019 15:31:21 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1130513

registered interest
date	06/06/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	China: Human Rights
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the human rights situation in China in (a) 2019 comparative to (b) 1989.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	261230
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2019 answer text <p>Over the past 30 years China has ratified a number of United Nations instruments relating to human rights. However we have serious concerns about the continued lack of respect for civil and political human rights in China, particularly relating to the rights of ethnic minorities; the death penalty; freedom of expression, association and assembly; and freedom of religion or belief.</p><p> </p><p>The advent of advanced surveillance technologies has facilitated increased restrictions on the rights of citizens in China. This has been particularly noticeable in Xinjiang, where there are credible reports of over a million Uyghurs and other minorities being detained in so called “re-education camps”. Reliable reporting suggests the region is subject to widespread surveillance, overt discriminatory profiling of members of ethnic minorities, and an omnipresent security apparatus. British diplomats most recently visited Xinjiang in May 2019 and their observations supported much of the recent open source reporting about the situation in the province.</p><p> </p><p>We urge the Chinese authorities to safeguard their citizens’ rights as enshrined in China’s constitution and in international law.</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 13/06/2019 15:33:33 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1109217

registered interest
date	02/04/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Saudi Arabia: Religious Freedom
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Saudi Arabian counterpart on (a) reports of the persecution of minorities and (b) the ability to attend religious meetings without fear of persecution in that country.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	239978
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 10/04/2019 answer text <p>Saudi Arabia remains a Foreign and Commonwealth Office human rights priority country, particularly because of the use of the death penalty, women’s rights and restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion or belief. The British Government strongly supports the right to freedom of religion or belief, which is restricted in Saudi Arabia. We have made these views clear to the Saudi authorities. The UK position was made clear in the UK Statement for Saudi Arabia’s Universal Periodic Review adoption in March 2019.</p><p>​</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 10/04/2019 14:27:28 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1105987

registered interest
date	28/03/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	China: Transplant Surgery
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 6 November 2018 to Question 185605, if he will make representations to the World Health Organisation on waiting list times for organ transplants in China compared to other developed countries.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	238342
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.</p><p>These reports include the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China.</p><p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a specialised UN agency with an office in Beijing, which works with the Chinese Government on a range of priority health issues. The WHO collates global data on organ donations. We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on the issues raised in the recent debate in Parliament, which included references to the 2016 update to the report 'Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter' and waiting list times for organ transplants in China. It would not be appropriate for us to make representations to the WHO to attend a tribunal that is independent of government, although this of course does not preclude the organisers of the tribunal from doing so.</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 02/04/2019 16:02:01 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1105988

registered interest
date	28/03/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	China: Organs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer on 6 November 2018 to Question 185606, if he will formally request that World Health Organisation officials attend the April hearings in London of the people's independent tribunal on China.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	238343
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.</p><p>These reports include the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China.</p><p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a specialised UN agency with an office in Beijing, which works with the Chinese Government on a range of priority health issues. The WHO collates global data on organ donations. We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on the issues raised in the recent debate in Parliament, which included references to the 2016 update to the report 'Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter' and waiting list times for organ transplants in China. It would not be appropriate for us to make representations to the WHO to attend a tribunal that is independent of government, although this of course does not preclude the organisers of the tribunal from doing so.</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 02/04/2019 16:03:50 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1105989

registered interest
date	28/03/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	China: Organs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the World Health Organisation's access to China to evaluate the Chinese organ transplant system.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	238344
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.</p><p>These reports include the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China.</p><p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) is a specialised UN agency with an office in Beijing, which works with the Chinese Government on a range of priority health issues. The WHO collates global data on organ donations. We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on the issues raised in the recent debate in Parliament, which included references to the 2016 update to the report 'Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter' and waiting list times for organ transplants in China.</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 02/04/2019 16:05:13 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1105993

registered interest
date	28/03/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	China: Organs
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the validity of reports of forced organ extraction in China.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	238345
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 02/04/2019 answer text <p>We are aware of reports that allege that organ harvesting may be taking place in China, including suggestions that minority and religious groups are being specifically targeted. The British Government continues to take these reports extremely seriously.</p><p>These reports include the 2016 update to the Kilgour, Matas and Gutmann report and other information provided so far to the ongoing tribunal organised by the International Coalition to End Transplant Abuse in China and chaired by Sir Geoffrey Nice QC. We continue to scrutinise the situation carefully and review new information as it becomes available. At present, however, our assessment is that there is not a strong enough evidential base to substantiate the claim that systematic state-sponsored or sanctioned organ harvesting is taking place in China. We will continue to review any new evidence that is presented to us.</p><p>The World Health Organisation (WHO) collates global data on organ donations and works with China through its country office in Beijing. We will update the WHO via our Embassy in Beijing on recent concerns in the UK about reports of organ harvesting in China, including those raised in Parliament.</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 02/04/2019 15:10:20 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1091206

registered interest
date	19/03/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Rugby: World Cup
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to (a) update and (b) promote travel vaccination advice in advance of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	234137
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 22/03/2019 answer text <p>We are all looking forward to the Rugby World Cup in Japan in September 2019 and advise all British nationals wishing to travel to obtain adequate travel and medical insurance for the trip in good time. Advice on all aspects of travel to Japan, including vaccinations, can be found on our FCO travel advice pages which are regularly updated and can be found at https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/japan also see https://www.gov.uk/government/news/rugby-world-cup-2019.</p><p>​</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 22/03/2019 14:12:20 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon

1087045

registered interest
date	12/03/2019
answering body	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept id	16
answering dept short name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
answering dept sort name	Foreign and Commonwealth Office
hansard heading	Afghanistan: Hazara
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking with his international counterparts to bring those responsible for the persecution of Hazara people to justice.
tabling member constituency	Strangford
tabling member printed	Jim Shannon
uin	231464
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 19/03/2019 answer text <p>​The UK regularly urges the Government of Afghanistan and the Government of Pakistan to ensure that the human rights and safety of all minorities, including the Hazara people, are protected in line with international human rights obligations. We do so bilaterally and with international partners, including the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan and the EU. At the Universal Periodic Review of Afghanistan at the UN Human Rights Council in January 2019, we recommended that the Government of Afghanistan establish an independent mechanism to assess how religious and ethnic minorities can be better protected.</p><p>Following attacks last year affecting the Hazara community in Afghanistan, Embassy officials met with Hazara Members of Parliament for Ghazni to understand their concerns. The UK provides a range of support which aims to enhance the Afghan Government's ability to protect all Afghan citizens, including minority ethnic and religious groups such as the Hazaras.</p> answering member constituency Cities of London and Westminster answering member printed Mark Field question first answered 19/03/2019 16:58:30 answering member 1405 label Biography information for Mark Field
tabling member	4131 label Biography information for Jim Shannon