PM salutes ‘warriors’ after China ban
Johnson stands ‘shoulder to shoulder’ with MPs and talks with Biden about countering Beijing threat
‘I stand firmly with those who have been shining a light on the gross human rights violations perpetrated against Uighur Muslims’
‘We are delighted the PM agreed to meet us. This sends a clear signal that the UK will not turn a blind eye to attempts to intimidate legislators’
BORIS JOHNSON yesterday praised Tory MPs sanctioned by China as “warriors in the fight for free speech” after inviting them to Downing Street.
In a public show of support directed at Beijing, the Prime Minister and Joe Biden, the US president, also held talks about setting up an infrastructure fund to pay for roads and bridges in the developing world to counter China’s growing global influence.
The idea was raised by the Mr Johnson in talks with some of the sanctioned UK politicians at 10 Downing Street yesterday.
The PM is understood to have referred to the parliamentarians as “warriors in the fight for free speech” who have his “full-throated support” and expressed bafflement at Beijing’s “ridiculous” actions.
One source said Mr Johnson had raised with the group the prospect of a “green alternative” to China’s £774 billion Belt and Road initiative, which has seen Beijing lend billions of pounds to poorer countries to spend on maritime, energy, road and rail projects.
Mr Johnson is said to have voiced concern that there were so many countries, particularly in Africa, who were “in hoc to the Chinese” because of these infrastructure loans.
One idea is to use some of the aid budget – set to hit £10 billion – to counter China’s influence.
The plan would be to tip “hundreds of millions of pounds” into the fund as “an alternative to China’s debt trap diplomacy”, a source said.
Mr Johnson is said to have raised the matter with Mr Biden in a phone call on Friday evening. No 10 said the pair had “reflected on the significant action taken earlier last week to impose sanctions on human rights violators in Xinjiang and expressed their concern about retaliatory action”.
Beijing slapped asset freezes and travel bans on the group of MPs just days after Britain joined with the US, Canada and the European Union in a raft of measures against Chinese officials accused of “appalling” human rights violations against the Uighurs.
Campaigners said it was the first time British parliamentarians have been formally sanctioned by a nation state.
No 10 released pictures of yesterday’s meeting in Downing Street’s garden. Five MPs and peers met the PM: former education minister Tim Loughton, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Tory MP Nus Ghani, Liberal Democrat peer Lord Alton of Liverpool and Labour peer Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws.
Writing on Twitter, Mr Johnson said: “This morning I spoke with some of those who have been shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uighur Muslims.
“I stand firmly with them and the other British citizens sanctioned by
China.” One source said the photocall was important to show that “people on the sanctions list get invited to No 10 to stand shoulder to shoulder with the PM”.
In a joint statement the sanctioned politicians said: “We are delighted that the Prime Minister agreed to meet us. This sends a clear signal that the UK will not turn a blind eye to attempts to intimidate legislators.
“Our focus is on the victims of the Chinese Communist Party. We take this opportunity to raise again the plight of the Uighurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers and other groups subject to persecution by the Chinese government.
“We reiterate our calls for the Chinese government to honour its commitments to upholding human rights and abiding by international law.”
Tory MPs Tom Tugendhat and Neil O’Brien. barrister Geoffrey Nice QC and academic Joanne Smith Finley were also singled out by China’s ministry of foreign affairs, alongside groups who had drawn attention to the Uighur plight.