Conclusions and recommendations
1. We
consider the ban by China on our visit to Hong Kong in 2014 to
be unprecedented, and we see it as an obstruction to the conduct
of our parliamentary duties. (Paragraph 2)
2. We thank the FCO
for its efforts to assist the Committee and we welcome the contact
it has already had with senior ministers and officials in China
about the ban. However, we consider that the Minister's reply
did not go far enough, given the gravity of the circumstances
and the insult to the House of Commons and to the UK as a whole.
We call on the Government to respond more robustly to this unprecedented
act by the Chinese government. We recommend that the FCO raise
this matter with its partners in the European Union. In particular,
we recommend that the Government summon the Chinese Ambassador
in London to the Foreign Office, and make formal written protests
to its counterparts in Beijing and Hong Kong. (Paragraph 5)
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