Select Committee on Foreign Affairs First Report

3  Scrutiny of specific foreign policy issues

20. As this Report demonstrates, our work on the 'war on terror', the Middle East peace process, Iran and the other 'front page' foreign policy issues has continued to be at the top of our agenda since the last general election. However, just as before that election our predecessor Committee produced Reports on the Western Balkans and on Cyprus, so we have endeavoured to ensure that emerging foreign policy issues have not been neglected. In the course of 2006, we have completed a major inquiry into East Asia and have started another, into South Asia.

Seventh Report of Session 2005-06, East Asia (HC 860)

21. As we noted in our introduction to this Report,

East Asia is a dynamic region, with half of the world's population, the world's fastest-growing economies and a wide spectrum of diverse cultures and political systems. The region has huge economic potential, but also has hundreds of millions of the world's poorest people. The region also contains a number of significant security risks and unresolved disputes.[7]

The Report followed up the work of our predecessors, who produced a substantial Report on China in November 2000. The focus of our work was once again on China, the dominant power in the region and a country of increasing political, economic and strategic importance. In May 2006, we visited Beijing, Shanghai, the Tibet 'autonomous region', Hong Kong and Taiwan.

22. The Chinese authorities expressed strong displeasure at our decision to visit Taiwan and exerted pressure on us to cancel that leg of the visit. We decided to continue with our itinerary, believing it was important to hear all shades of opinion on the Taiwan issue. We also raised our strong concerns about human rights in China, and especially in Tibet, with representatives of the Chinese government. Our hosts' reactions to our insistence on visiting Taiwan and on discussing human rights confirmed for us the worth of undertaking the visit and of engaging with the Chinese on the basis of democratic values.

23. The Government welcomed our Report, which reflected the FCO's own shift in the emphasis of its work from the 'old' economies of America and Europe to the fast-developing powers of the Asian region.

Evidence on South Asia (HC, 2006-07, 55)

24. The evidence-gathering phase of our inquiry into South Asia began in November 2006 and continues to January 2007. The main focus of the inquiry is on India, as the emerging political and economic power in the region, but we are also very much concerned with the strategic balance between India and its neighbours and also of course with the Kashmir dispute. We visited the region in late November, splitting into three groups in order to cover as much ground as possible in less than one week. Most of us started in Delhi, with some then visiting Chennai (Madras) and Mumbai (Bombay); another group went from Delhi to Amritsar and thence by road across the border to Lahore, ending in Islamabad. A third group started by visiting Kabul, before joining the others in Islamabad. This was an immensely useful visit and we are grateful to all those who assisted with its planning and execution.

25. The Afghanistan leg of this visit was especially valuable in affording Members of the Committee an opportunity to discuss the situation in that country directly with a wide range of interlocutors. The group met President Karzai and other members of the Afghan government, spoke with representatives of various international organisations working in Afghanistan, and were briefed by senior diplomatic and military figures. This work will be taken forward in the Committee's annual Human Rights inquiry, in the South Asia inquiry and in our new inquiry into Global Security.

Evidence on Iran (HC, 2005-06, 904-i)

26. Since the Committee reported on Iran in 2004, we have continued to monitor developments there closely. In February 2006, the then Foreign Secretary gave oral evidence on Iran. The Committee hosted a visit to Westminster by a group of members of the Iranian parliament, in the course of which we were able to have some useful discussions with our counterparts. We have also held informal meetings with Iranian diplomats, both in the United Kingdom and at the United Nations.

Evidence on the Middle East (HC, 2005-06, 1583-i)

27. With the House in recess during the majority of the conflict between Israeli and Hezbollah forces in Lebanon in the Summer of 2006, we felt it was important that Parliament should exercise some kind of scrutiny of the Government's response to the crisis, both as a diplomatic issue and as a consular emergency. We therefore asked the Minister for the Middle East, Dr Kim Howells, to give oral evidence in September. We believe this was a useful exercise, which demonstrated the ability of committees to hold ministers to account, notwithstanding Parliament being in recess. With the recent decision of the House not to continue the experiment of September sittings, such activity may become a more frequent aspect of the work of committees.

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7   Foreign Affairs Committee, Seventh Report of Session 2005-06, East Asia, HC 860, para 1 Back

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Prepared 17 January 2007