Sir Lindsay, the Speaker of the Commons, is said to have refused a request for a Chinese delegation to enter Westminster Hall to pay their respects. Both the BBC and Politico reported that Sir Lindsay banned the delegation amid a long-running dispute between Parliament and the Chinese government over the sanctioning of MPs. Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, has been invited to the queen’s state funeral on Monday but is not expected to attend and it is believed that Vice President Wang Qishan will be sent in his place. However, while China will be represented in some capacity at the funeral at Westminster Abbey, Beijing officials will not be able to attend in the countryside despite it being held just a stone’s throw away.
Human rights violations
Westminster Hall is part of the Parliamentary estate and is therefore under the control of the Speaker of the Commons and the Lord Speaker. The House of Commons told the BBC it does not comment on security matters. The decision to ban the Chinese delegation is likely to further inflame tensions between the British parliament and Beijing. China imposed sanctions on nine individuals and four organizations in the UK in March last year in retaliation after Britain sanctioned Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang. Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the Conservative Party, as well as Tory MPs Tom Tugendhat, Neil O’Brien, Tim Loughton and Nusrat Ghani were among those sanctioned, as they and their families were banned from entering on Chinese soil. In September last year, the Chinese ambassador to the UK was banned from parliament after being invited to visit the Commons, which angered sanctioned MPs. Sir Lindsay and Lord McFall, the Lord Speaker, stepped in at the last minute to stop Zheng Zeguang from setting foot on the Westminster estate.
“Project kowtow all over again”
The decision to ban the Chinese delegation from attending the outing comes after the sanctioned MPs wrote to Speakers earlier this week seeking assurances that representatives from Beijing would not be allowed on parliamentary property. They also expressed concern and anger over the invitation of President Xi to the funeral and demanded that the invitation be rescinded. Sir Iain told Politico it was “amazing” that Chinese representatives were invited and suggested it was “project kowtow all over again”. The heads of state of all the countries with which the UK has full diplomatic relations have been invited to the funeral. Only three national governments have been banned from participating: Russia, Belarus and Myanmar.
