SHANGHAI, Jan 30 (Reuters) – British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday that China would lift restrictions on groups of British parliamentarians, meaning they are now free to travel to China.
Starmer made the announcement during a four-day visit to China, the first by a British leader in eight years, aimed at improving ties despite ongoing concerns about espionage, human rights and other issues.
The Prime Minister told the BBC that he raised the issue of sanctioned lawmakers with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who responded that “the restrictions no longer apply”.
“President Xi said to me that this meant all MPs were free to travel to China,” Starmer said. “One of the benefits of participating is not only taking advantage of the opportunity, but also asking those difficult and sensitive questions.”
In 2021, China imposed sanctions on nine Britons, including former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, accusing them of spreading “lies and disinformation” about alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
Starmer’s spokesman said the UK would not lift sanctions on Chinese individuals in exchange for lifting restrictions on British MPs.
Some sanctioned British MPs said in a statement on the potential lifting of sanctions that they would rather remain under sanctions than use their status as a “bargaining chip” to justify removing Chinese officials from the UK sanctions list.
“We will reject any agreement that puts our personal convenience over the pursuit of justice for the Uyghur people,” the group, which includes former security minister Tom Tugendhat, said in a statement.
China last year lifted sanctions on members of the European Parliament and its human rights subcommittee.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill, writing by Catarina Demony, editing by Sarah Young)
