LONDON — House of Commons authorities have denied a Chinese government delegation permission to attend the Queen’s funeral, opening a new diplomatic rift with Beijing. House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle told colleagues he rejected a request to allow Chinese officials access to Westminster Hall, where the late queen will lie in state until her funeral on Monday, a senior parliamentary official with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO issue. Hoyle’s office said it did not comment on security matters. All heads of state visiting London for the funeral have been invited to attend outside Westminster Hall before Monday’s service and sign a book of condolence at Lancaster House. However, Westminster Hall is part of the Palace of Westminster, over which the Speakers of the Commons and Lords have authority. Last year the speakers of the Commons and Lords barred the Chinese ambassador, Zheng Zeguang, from entering parliament after Beijing imposed sanctions on some British politicians critical of the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. This ban remains in effect for as long as these sanctions remain in place. At the time Hoyle said it was inappropriate for Zheng to “meet on our Commons estate and our place of work when his country has sanctioned some of our members”. The UK government said access to parliamentary property was a matter for parliamentary authorities to decide. A parliamentary official has questioned whether the Speakers of the Commons and Lords retain full powers to access the Chamber of Westminster during the five-day Operation Marquee – the name used to refer to arrangements for the Queen’s repose – as officials are involved of Buckingham and Whitehall in logistics. But Hoyle’s response leaves open the possibility that senior Chinese officials will attend the queen’s funeral at Westminster Abbey as representatives of President Xi Jinping on Monday, but will be barred from entering Westminster Hall to pay their respects a few meters away. And it reveals a clear divide between the British parliament and the British government, with the former once again taking a significantly harder line against Beijing. Invitations to the Queen’s funeral were drawn up by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office last week. Xi received an official invitation as China’s head of state, although he is not expected to attend in person. The South China Morning Post reported on Thursday that China’s Vice President Wang Qishan is likely to go in his place, arriving in London this Sunday. Wang signed a book of condolence for the queen at the British embassy in Beijing this week and observed a minute’s silence, according to China’s state-run Xinhua news agency. Helena Kennedy, a Labor peer who is among the politicians sanctioned by Beijing, said: “I feel very strongly that Chinese government officials should be banned from attending this occasion where the nation of Britain celebrates life of our queen,” he said. . “They are attacking our parliamentary and constitutional system through members of our legislature.” The British government’s stance towards China looks likely to harden in the coming months. Liz Truss, who became prime minister earlier this month, signaled during the Tory leadership contest that she will be more aggressive towards Beijing than her predecessor Boris Johnson. He has suggested he wants to formally recognize the treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide and plans to update the UK government’s comprehensive review – its long-term foreign and defense strategy – with stronger language about China. During the contest she attacked her rival Rishi Sunak for seeking closer economic ties with China as UK chancellor. As secretary of state in August, Truss summoned the Chinese ambassador over Beijing’s aggression toward Taiwan and said there had been “increasingly aggressive behavior and rhetoric from Beijing in recent months that threaten peace and stability in the region.”
