The Chinese ambassador to the UK has been barred from entering the British Parliament due to the sanctions | Globalism

a China It imposed sanctions on nine British politicians, lawyers and an academic in March for publishing what it said were “lies and misinformation” about the treatment of Uighur Muslims in the far west of the country.

Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, and John Macphale, Speaker of the House of Lords, intervened to prevent Zheng Tsigang from speaking at an event in Parliament.

“I hold frequent meetings with ambassadors around the world to establish lasting relationships between states and parliamentarians,” Hoyle said.

“But I don’t feel it appropriate for the Chinese ambassador to appear in the House of Commons and in our business environment when his country is imposing sanctions on some of our members.”

China responds: ‘A despicable and cowardly act’

A Chinese embassy spokesman criticized the move.

“The despicable and cowardly act of some individuals in the UK parliament to obstruct normal exchanges and cooperation between China and the UK for personal political gain goes against the wishes of the peoples of the two countries and harms their interests,” said Chinese. statment.

Hoyle said he did not ban the Chinese representative permanently, but only as long as the sanctions were in place.

According to the Daily Telegraph, Richard Graham, head of a parliamentary group on China, sent an invitation to Zhiguang over the summer. Graham did not respond to a request for comment and the parliamentary group declined to comment.

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