China has lifted restrictions on some British MPs and peers and will now allow all parliamentarians to visit the country, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
Speaking to Sky News’s political editor Beth Rigby, the prime minister said the sanctions have been a “real cause for concern across parliament”, and he had raised the issue with China’s President Xi Jinping during the trip.
“As a result [of discussions], it’s clear from the Chinese that the restrictions no longer apply,” Sir Keir said.
“President Xi said what that means is that all parliamentarians are free to travel to China.”
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It’s understood the UK will not be lifting any sanctions on Chinese officials in return.
China sanctioned five Conservative MPs and two members of the House of Lords in 2021, which was seen as retaliation for sanctions by the UK and other countries on several Chinese officials for their connection to reports of human rights violations.
They were banned from entering China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
The MPs sanctioned were former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Nusrat Ghani, Neil O’Brien, and former security minister Tom Tugendhat, as well as Tim Loughton, who stood down from the Commons at the 2024 general election.
China also sanctioned Labour peer and human rights barrister Baroness Helena Kennedy, and crossbench peer Lord David Alton.
All are fierce critics of China.
Responding to criticism that he shouldn’t have visited China in the first place due to the country’s human rights abuses, the prime minister said he wouldn’t have been able to get the sanctions lifted had he not made the visit.
“That’s something that couldn’t have happened if we weren’t here, having the leader-to-leader exchange. It doesn’t happen if you stick your head in the sand,” he told Sky News.
In a statement on Friday morning given before the interview, responding to rumours of a possible lifting of sanctions, the seven parliamentarians said: “We would rather remain under sanction indefinitely than have our status used as a bargaining chip to justify lifting British sanctions on those officials responsible for the genocide in Xinjiang.
“We would reject any deal that prioritises our personal convenience over the pursuit of justice for the Uyghur people.”
