China’s ambassador to the UK is BARRED from Parliament in response to sanctions being imposed on UK politicians – as Beijing reacts by calling the move ‘despicable and cowardly’
China's ambassador to the UK has been barred from Parliament after MPs and peers sanctioned by Beijing expressed outrage at his scheduled visit.
Zheng Zeguang was told by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and his counterpart in the upper chamber, Lord McFall, that he could not enter the estate for a talk scheduled for Wednesday.
He was due to meet the broadly pro-Chinese All-Party Parliamentary Group on China (APPG) - a cross-party MP group aimed at 'widening' the parliamentary contribution to UK relations with Beijing.
But Sir Lindsay argued it would not be 'appropriate' for the ambassador to meet at the Commons while seven parliamentarians remain sanctioned.
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith and other sanctioned politicians welcomed the 'strong principled stand' taken by the speakers.
But Richard Graham, the Tory MP who chairs the APPG on China expressed his 'regret' that he would have to postpone the talk.
Meanwhile, The Chinese Embassy in London tonight condemned the move as 'despicable and cowardly' and one that will 'harm the interests of both countries'.
Announcing the ban, Sir Lindsay said: 'I do not feel it's appropriate for the ambassador for China to meet on the Commons estate and in our place of work when his country has imposed sanctions against some of our members'.

Zheng Zeguang was told by Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and his counterpart in the upper chamber, Lord McFall, that he could not enter the estate for a talk scheduled for Wednesday


With the move likely to enrage Beijing, Sir Lindsay argued it would not be 'appropriate' for the ambassador to meet at the Commons while seven parliamentarians, including Sir Ian Duncan Smith (pictured right), remain sanctioned
'If those sanctions were lifted, then of course this would not be an issue,' he added.
'I am not saying the meeting cannot go ahead - I am just saying it cannot take place here while those sanctions remain in place.'
Lord McFall's spokeswoman confirmed that the speakers of both houses 'are in agreement that this particular APPG China meeting should take place elsewhere considering the current sanctions against members'.
According to the Guardian, It is understood that the Speaker sought the advice of the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, but the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said the decision was a matter for the Speaker, and not the government.
Hoyle, meanwhile, said he was not banning the Chinese ambassador permanently, but only while the sanctions existed.
Sir Iain and a group of his sanctioned colleagues - Crossbencher Lord Alton, Labour's Baroness Kennedy, and Tory MPs Tim Loughton and Nusrat Ghani - welcomed the move, saying allowing the diplomat onto the estate would have been 'an insult to Parliament'.
'We the sanctioned welcome the strong principled stand made by the Speaker and Lord Speaker in standing up for freedom of speech in the mother of Parliaments by supporting those parliamentarians who have been sanctioned by China,' they said in a joint statement.
Mr Graham had argued it was 'very important' for the group to engage with and hear from the new ambassador, who took on the role in June.
After the speakers' decision, the Tory MP said: 'I regret this long arranged event has now been postponed because the best way to discuss issues is to engage.
'This decision is of course the Speaker's prerogative and we will make new arrangements.'
In March, China imposed sanctions on seven parliamentarians, also including Tory MPs Tom Tugendhat and Neil O'Brien.


In March, China imposed sanctions on seven parliamentarians, also including Tory MPs Tom Tugendhat (left) and Neil O'Brien (right). They are all vocal critics of Beijing, having spoken out against the treatment of the Uighur people in Xinjiang.
They are all vocal critics of Beijing, having spoken out against the treatment of the Uighur people in Xinjiang.
China made the move shortly after Britain - along with the US, Canada and European Union - placed sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses in the country's autonomous north-west territory.
Tonight a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in London said of the Parliament ban: 'The despicable and cowardly action of certain individuals of the UK Parliament to obstruct normal exchanges and co-operation between China and the UK for personal political gains is against the wishes and harmful to the interests of the peoples of both countries.'
In March, China's ambassador to Britain was summoned to explain the revenge sanctions slapped onto MPs and academics critical of the Beijing regime.
The Government reacted with fury as nine China hawks - plus four UK institutions - were targeted by the Communist regime for speaking out on its human rights abuses.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in March he stood 'firmly' behind them over the tit-for-tat move, which came four days after Britain, the US, Canada and the European Union placed sanctions on Chinese officials deemed responsible for human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in the country's autonomous Xinjiang.
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of those targeted, said in March he would wear the sanctions as a 'badge of honour' for speaking out against activities branded 'genocide' by the United States and others.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that month the Chinese ambassador would be summoned over the sanctions, branding them a 'sign of weakness' from Beijing.
Speaking to broadcasters in March, Mr Raab said: 'The ambassador here will be summoned and we will explain in very clear terms the position both in relation to the MPs and other figures who have spoken out, but also that we will not be silenced in terms of speaking out about these human rights abuses.
'And I think you'll see - as we saw only this week with 30 countries, including the UK, united in imposing sanctions on those abusing the Uighur Muslims and others in Xinjiang - that pressure continue to grow and to rise.'

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in March the Chinese ambassador would be summoned over the sanctions, branding them a 'sign of weakness' from Beijing

Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, one of those targeted, said in March he would wear the sanctions as a 'badge of honour' for speaking out against activities branded 'genocide' by the United States and others. Pictured: Workers walk by the perimeter fence of what is officially known as a vocational skills education centre in Dabancheng in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region
The sanctions were declared in March after Mr Raab announced a package of travel bans and asset freezes against four senior officials and the state-run Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Public Security Bureau (XPCC PSB).
He said the abuse of Uighur Muslims was 'one of the worst human rights crises of our time' and the global community 'cannot simply look the other way'.
But China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Mr Raab's move was 'based on nothing but lies and disinformation, flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations'.
The Ministry said it had sanctioned nine people and four British institutions 'that maliciously spread lies and disinformation'.
In March, Tory MPs Sir Iain, Neil O'Brien, Tim Loughton, Nusrat Ghani and chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Tom Tugendhat were sanctioned, along with crossbench peer Lord Alton, Labour's Baroness Kennedy, barrister Geoffrey Nice and academic Jo Smith Finley.
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