argyrotsipi/train-dataset huggingface dataset:
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the right hon. Gentleman for his judicious remarks, and I certainly welcome the substantive points he made. He talked about the importance of this House, not just the Government, speaking with a united voice. That is exactly what we have had today on the key issue at stake, and I welcome his contribution to that. I also agree that it is heartbreaking to see the scenes in Hong Kong, just hours after the enactment of this national security legislation. We are counselling the Hong Kong authorities and Beijing to step back, but it is clear that, having enacted this legislation, they wish to proceed. We will need to wait to see the precise application and enforcement of this action before deciding some of the measures that we might take next, but these are under active consideration, including with our international partners I took the right hon. Gentleman’s point about BNOs. The full details will be set before the House by the Home Secretary, but we are very clear with our commitment to provide a path to citizenship for all eligible BNO-status holders and we will do the right thing by all of them. I have been very clear in relation to HSBC and I will say the same thing in relation to all of the banks. The rights and the freedoms of, and our responsibilities in this country to, the people of Hong Kong should not be sacrificed on the altar of bankers’ bonuses.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Bernard Christison Jenkin (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome every word of my right hon. Friend’s statement and the bipartisan nature of these exchanges. I invite him to take up the appeal made by the hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy) for a long-term strategic approach to China. What can we learn from the disastrous mistake of the Government just a few years ago, who thought we were embarking on some new "golden era" with this dictatorship Let me draw attention to the comments made by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster at the weekend, when he said that "foreign policy-making is often weakened by the lack of deep knowledge of the language, culture and history of the nations with whom we are negotiating or whom we seek to influence." Why has that been the case? What can we learn from it? How will the Government now embark upon a big, comprehensive, sustainable strategic review of our relations with China, involving not just people within the Government but people beyond the Government and other nations?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my hon. Friend, the Chairman of the Liaison Committee, for that. He makes a range of important points. On Chinese expertise, I do not think the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was referring to the Foreign Office. In any event, I can provide the reassurance that we have some of the finest Mandarin-speaking diplomats around the world and we are exceptionally well represented in Beijing by Her Majesty’s ambassador, Dame Barbara Woodward. We are increasingly, across Government, looking at all aspects of our relationship with China. Obviously, the House is interested in and will know about Huawei. My hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat), the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, who is no longer in his place, referred to the situation in universities, and rightly raised the question, as, in fairness, did the hon. Member for Wigan, about an integrated strategy. Clearly, as we bring forward the integrated review, China’s role in the world and our relationship with China will be an essential element of that, and that work is already under way.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I certainly share the hon. Lady’s views on our responsibilities to the people of Hong Kong and our concern about their treatment. In relation Huawei, as I have already said to the House, given the US sanctions, it is currently under review by the National Cyber Security Centre. We will come forward with our response in due course.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Thomas William Randall (Conservative, Centre-right): This morning I read an English translation of this disgraceful law and saw that article 38 extends the law to any offences committed outside Hong Kong by non-Hong Kong residents. Further to the point made by my hon. Friend the Member for Meon Valley (Mrs Drummond), will my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary press the point with China that UK visitors to Hong Kong and China will not face prosecution for things that they may have said or acts that they may have done while in the UK?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right: we are concerned about that provision and it is not entirely clear how it will be applied. It has already been raised with Carrie Lam by the consul general in the past 24 hours. We will be expressing our concern. It is, of course, something that the entire international community, and tourists and visitors from all around the world, will be concerned about, which is why it is so detrimental, not just to Hong Kong and the international community but to China itself.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the hon. Lady, who chairs the International Development Committee, and share her concern about what is going on in Hong Kong. I also welcome her support for the position that the Government have taken; she joins Members from all parties in doing so. We are obviously deeply concerned about all aspects of the national security legislation and will do everything we can to encourage the Chinese Government to think again. We need to be realistic about it. In relation to BNOs, as the hon. Lady will know, there are close to 3 million eligible BNOs and more than 300,000 passport holders. The offer that we have made is right, given the responsibilities that we have. We are clearly concerned more broadly about the residents of Hong Kong, and that is a conversation we are rightly having with our wider international partners.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Antony Higginbotham (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement and the decisive action that is being taken. Unfortunately, this legislation follows a catalogue of actions by the Chinese Government to undermine international law. Will the Foreign Secretary confirm that when the Chinese ambassador is summoned to the Foreign Office, we will bring up not just this awful legislation but that catalogue of actions, and make it clear to the Chinese Government that it can no longer be business as usual?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right: we will raise our concerns in relation to the national security legislation right across the board. The permanent secretary will do that with the ambassador and our consul general has done it with the Chief Executive. I had close to an hour with Wang Yi, the Foreign Minister, on 8 June, as I have said previously to the House. Of course, we talk about the full range of our relationship. We want a positive relationship with China—there are all sorts of opportunities in relation not only to trade but to climate change, with COP26 coming up—but what we cannot do, whether it is in relation to our national security or our values, is look the other way and, just because of its asymmetric power, think that we have to kowtow, duck or bow. We will not do that—we will not do it on the issue of Hong Kong or wherever else our vital interests are at stake.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I think the hon. Gentleman is a bit confused. The EU does not have an autonomous human rights sanctions regime, but the United Kingdom will do by the summer recess with our first designations. We are engaged in a conversation with our European partners—[Interruption.] He is shaking his head, but he is just not right about this. None the less, we are engaged with our European colleagues to encourage them to follow suit and take this step. He raised a range of other issues, which we are very happy to look at, but I draw his attention to the statement—an unprecedented statement—that was made at the UN Human Rights Council with 27 states signing up to make our concerns clear in relation to human rights not just in Hong Kong, but in Xinjiang.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Jeremy Richard Streynsham Hunt (Conservative, Centre-right): I salute the outstanding leadership being shown by my right hon. Friend on this issue, and, indeed, the superb leadership being shown by Dame Barbara Woodward as our ambassador in Beijing. It is one of our most difficult posts and we are truly lucky to be led by a diplomat of such calibre. The basic difference is that we believe that freedom of expression and peaceful protest support social stability, whereas the Chinese Government think that they undermine social stability. When we look at what is happening in the rest of the world, we can see that it has never been more important to stand up for those values, so will he tell the House what other steps the Foreign Office is taking to support freedom of expression and media freedom across the world?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend and pay tribute to his work not only on the issue of media freedoms, but in relation to China and Hong Kong. This has been a long time coming and we have hoped for the best, but we have been prepared for the worst. He is right to pay tribute to Dame Barbara. It is a difficult posting. She has performed exceptionally well. He asked, in particular, about media freedoms. He will know, because it was established under his tenure rather than mine, that we have a media freedom campaign, which we, along with the Canadians, lead. We are swelling the ranks of that. It provides support for countries that want to protect media freedoms, and it also provides support for journalists. We also have a campaign to protect freedom of religious belief and the third element of this will be the Magnitsky sanctions regime, which I will bring before the House with the first designations before the summer recess.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): The reality is that my hon. Friend is right: Hong Kong has long been regarded as the jewel in the financial crown. Of course, its relative economic importance has ebbed overtime as China has developed economically, but the reality is that the steps that have been taken are clearly counterproductive to China’s own self-interest in economic terms. What we are seeing clearly is China putting the political imperative to control Hong Kong and other so-called restive provinces of China over its economic interests. In any event, regardless of the financial circumstances, there is a point of principle at stake here based on their freedoms, their autonomy and the commitments under international law that China has signed up to. If it wants to be a leading member of the international community, it must live up to the international responsibilities and the international obligations that it undertakes.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): The open investment culture that we have in this country constantly needs to be kept under review. We have seen it with Huawei and we will look at it in other areas. However, the reality is that it is also a source of this country’s strength, so I do not accept for a second the hon. Gentleman’s suggestion that Britain being an open and outward-looking country, and welcoming investment, is somehow the reason for what has happened in Hong Kong. He should not let China off the hook. It is China’s—[Interruption.] The hon. Member for Paisley and Renfrewshire North (Gavin Newlands) says "Brexit" from a sedentary position. It is ludicrous to blame what is happening in Hong Kong on Brexit. The hon. Member for Kilmarnock and Loudoun (Alan Brown) should not let China off the hook. It is China’s failure to live up to its responsibilities that is at fault and at stake here, and it is important that we have unanimity across the House on this critical point—otherwise, the truth is that we just weaken our message in Beijing.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Jonathan Edward Gullis (Conservative, Centre-right): I also welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement and his decisive action, and I fully endorse the idea from the shadow Foreign Secretary, the hon. Member for Wigan (Lisa Nandy), of having a UN special rapporteur as a way forward in tackling Hong Kong. The people of Stoke-on-Trent, Kidsgrove and Talke were shocked by the actions of China upon our friends in Hong Kong. Does my right hon. Friend agree that now is not the time to allow the Chinese Government-funded Huawei to have access to our mobile networks, and that instead, we should be backing local and regional solutions at home, such as a Staffordshire 5G connected growth deal?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: Technology
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I take many of the points that my hon. Friend makes and I share the concern of his constituents. I think the issue we have on 5G is, frankly, a longer-term issue, where we have failed to provide the diversification of supply that allows us to rely on high-trust vendors, rather than high-risk vendors. That matter is now, as he knows, in the light of US sanctions, currently under further review by the National Cyber Security Centre and we will come to the House when that has been looked at thoroughly.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Liam Fox (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend for the content and tone of the statement today, because it is a cause of great sadness that we have just witnessed the death of one country, two systems, with all the implications that that will have internationally—something that will be shared across the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China countries. Hong Kong is still the entry point for much of China’s inward investment. Has my right hon. Friend had the chance to assess what implications the disregard for international treaty law that we have seen today will have for the security of international investments in Hong Kong, which are still so necessary for the social stability and prosperity of the Chinese people?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree entirely with my right hon. Friend’s sentiments, as well as his specific points. Of course, as well as the people of Hong Kong, investors and other people who might wish to visit Hong Kong, and who ordinarily would have done so, will be looking very carefully, not least given the extraterritorial elements of this law, at what it will mean. At the very least, above all the points that have been made in the Chamber today, it will risk a further range of uncertainty for businesses and for finance into Hong Kong and, as I said, that must be counterproductive not just for the people of Hong Kong and those investors, but for China.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I agree with the hon. Gentleman about the concerns he has expressed. I do not think he should personally feel bad about the commitments he made; we all shared the hope that China would live up to those responsibilities. We are making it clear that, even if China fails to live up to its responsibilities, we as one United Kingdom, including the hon. Gentleman, will live up to our responsibilities to those BNO passport holders. I take his point about the wider threat from China. Of course, given its size and the economic asymmetry, we need to think very carefully with all our international partners about how we proceed. We do not want to have a poor relationship with China; we want a positive relationship with China. However, one thing is clear: we will not duck issues such as human rights, our values or issues that touch on a vital national interests.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Kevin Paul Hollinrake (Conservative, Centre-right): As the Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Tonbridge and Malling (Tom Tugendhat) said earlier, a recent poll by the China Research Group expressed strong support for extending the rights of BNO passport holders to come to the UK, and I welcome this statement in that regard. It also expressed very strong support for sanctions: 80% of the people who expressed a preference felt there should be travel bans and asset freezes for the Chinese officials responsible for this legislation. Is that under consideration?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Andrew John Bower Mitchell (Conservative, Centre-right): I very much welcome what my right hon. Friend has said about the Magnitsky proposals, on which he and I have worked together in the past, and I also very much welcome what he said about the new rights for BNOs. In dealing with China, we should always champion our values and never trim on that. Will he make it clear to the Chinese regime and reinforce this with them that, wherever possible, we seek co-operation, not confrontation?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank my right hon. Friend. He is absolutely right, and he has long-standing experience, from when he was Secretary of State for International Development, of the relationship with China. It is double -edged: there are opportunities as well as risks—not just on trade, but on climate change, as he will know given the strong development angle. I think that he is absolutely right to say that we want a positive relationship. We do not want it to deteriorate or to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We are very clear in our approach to China on this; but equally, when it comes to issues of values, human rights and international obligations that go to questions of trust and confidence—not just the United Kingdom having trust and confidence in China, but the world and the international community having trust and confidence in China—China must live up to its word and China must keep its international obligations.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Claire Coryl Julia Coutinho (Conservative, Centre-right): I join with others in strongly welcoming the Foreign Secretary’s decisive action today in creating a bespoke route to citizenship for the BNOs and their dependants, but can he reassure me that he will continue to take our unique responsibility to those in Hong Kong deeply seriously and continue to stand on the side of all those who are seeking democracy and freedom?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I did not hear a specific proposal of what the hon. Gentleman would like us to do that we are not doing, but I can tell him that, in addition to all the things we are doing that I have set out before the House, we are actively working with our international partners. If he looks, he will see that in the G7 Foreign Ministers statement that we previously put out, in the Five Eyes statement that we put out when the decision was taken to proceed to enact the law and in the statement made in the UN Human Rights Council by 27 different states, proposed and led by the United Kingdom.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Robert Butler (Conservative, Centre-right): What has happened to the people of Hong Kong is chilling. In one sinister moment, their rights and freedoms have been swept away. These are rights and freedoms that we perhaps take for granted too often here, but we must defend them to the hilt. Will my right hon. Friend reassure the people of Hong Kong that it is not only the British Parliament but the British people who stand alongside them, and will he therefore make it clear that Britain will do whatever it takes to make the Chinese understand that they cannot behave in this way without consequences?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It feels to me, from the various interventions and points that have been made in relation to the polling that has been done on this, that we are sending out a clear message to the people of Hong Kong: we stand with you as a Government, as a House and as a country.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Dominic Rennie Raab (Conservative, Centre-right): I share the hon. Gentleman’s sentiments. In the statement, I referred several times to the Human Rights Council and the work over the past 24 hours in relation to Hong Kong and Xinjiang. He needs to be realistic about the likelihood of China ever accepting a rapporteur, or an international investigation being allowed into that area to seek the facts and monitor the situation on the ground as he describes, but that should not deter us for a moment from keeping up the international pressure, and I welcome his statement in that regard.
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Fiona Claire Bruce (Conservative, Centre-right): I thank the Foreign Secretary for his strong leadership and his clear focus on human rights. After expressing concern about this for some years as chair of the Conservative party human rights commission, that is welcome and refreshing. Is he aware that this week more than 50 UN special rapporteurs have called for a special rapporteur or envoy on Hong Kong? Will he respond to the many calls made in this Chamber for the UK to take a lead on that in the Human Rights Council?
Hong Kong National Security Legislation — House of Commons, 2020-07-01
Topic: International Affairs
Stephen Daniel Double (Conservative, Centre-right): I welcome the Foreign Secretary’s statement and thank him and the Home Secretary for their action on BNOs. The action by the Chinese Government has been roundly condemned. Does the Foreign Secretary share my view that this is the time for all countries committed to peace, freedom and democracy to come together and make it clear to the Chinese Government that their action is likely to prove counterproductive in the advancement of their own national interests?