Category: Parliament

Question for Department for International Trade
UIN 13928, tabled on 10 June 2021

Question
Mrs Heather Wheeler
Conservative
South Derbyshire Commons

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans she has to expand the UK’s trade and investment relationship with Taiwan.

Answer
Greg Hands
Conservative
Chelsea and Fulham Commons

Answered on
14 June 2021

I refer my hon. Friend for South Derbyshire to the answer I gave to my Rt hon. Friend for Haltemprice and Howden on 14 June 2021, UIN: 12938

 

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
UIN 10399, tabled on 4 June 2021

Question
Stephen Kinnock
Labour

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that Taiwan can viably access an alternative source of covid-19 vaccine supply to that being offered by the Chinese Government.

Answer
Nigel Adams
Conservative

Answered on
9 June 2021

The UK remains committed to equitable access to safe and effective vaccines and the Prime Minister has stated that we will share vaccines with COVAX and has called on G7 leaders to vaccinate the world by end of next year. We will continue to discuss this issue with our G7 partners and will issue details of the quantities and timeframe for sharing vaccine doses soon.

Taiwan has had one of the lowest incidences of Covid-19 in the world since the outbreak of the pandemic. We are continuing to engage with the relevant authorities locally through the British Office in Taipei as it faces its first significant occurrence of community transmission of the virus. Taiwan has so far received 609,600 doses through the COVAX platform. We will continue to work with all of our international partners to deliver a strong global response to the pandemic.

 

Question for Ministry of Defence
UIN 10212, tabled on 4 June 2021

Question
Tobias Ellwood
Conservative

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which Minister is responsible for deciding what Royal Navy ships may pass through the Taiwan Strait in 2021.

Answer
James Heappey
Conservative

Answered on
9 June 2021

As with all operational policy, naval deployments are a Ministry of Defence Departmental responsibility under the Secretary of State for Defence. Where Defence activity has broader policy implications for other Government Departments, it is usual for the Defence Secretary to consult with Cabinet colleagues before issuing his direction.

 

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
UIN 7112, tabled on 25 May 2021

Question
Andrew Rosindell
Conservative

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent conversations he has had with his counterpart from Taiwan on the cause of a recent increase in cases of covid-19 in that country.

Answer
Nigel Adams
Conservative

Answered on
2 June 2021

Taiwan has had one of the lowest incidences of Covid-19 in the world since the outbreak of the pandemic. We are now engaging with the relevant authorities locally through the British Office in Taipei as it faces its first significant occurrence of community transmission of the virus. We will continue to work with all of our international partners to deliver a strong global response.

 

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
UIN 7112, tabled on 25 May 2021

Question
Andrew Rosindell
Conservative

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent conversations he has had with his counterpart from Taiwan on the cause of a recent increase in cases of covid-19 in that country.

Answer
Nigel Adams
Conservative

Answered on
2 June 2021

Taiwan has had one of the lowest incidences of Covid-19 in the world since the outbreak of the pandemic. We are now engaging with the relevant authorities locally through the British Office in Taipei as it faces its first significant occurrence of community transmission of the virus. We will continue to work with all of our international partners to deliver a strong global response.

 

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
UIN 95, tabled on 11 May 2021

Question
Andrew Rosindell
Conservative

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with its counterpart in Taiwan on recent incursions into their airspace by Chinese Military jets.

Answer
Nigel Adams
Conservative

Answered on
18 May 2021

The UK Government considers the Taiwan issue one to be settled by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue. However, we remain concerned by any action which raises tensions in the Taiwan Strait and risks destabilising the status quo.

 

Question for Ministry of Defence
UIN 125, tabled on 11 May 2021

Question
Tobias Ellwood
Conservative

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has for the Royal Navy to visit the Taiwan strait.

Answer
James Heappey
Conservative

Answered on
18 May 2021

The Royal Navy will next navigate the Taiwan Strait when navigationally expeditious to do so and in accordance with international law and operational requirements.

To preserve operational security, the Royal Navy does not discuss the specifics of the operational routings of ships in advance.

 

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
UIN HL14909, tabled on 14 April 2021

Question
Lord Blencathra
Conservative

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have (1) to work with international partners to ensure that Taiwan is included at the forthcoming World Health Assembly on 24 May, and (2) to sanction any official of the government of China who attempts to exclude Taiwan from that Assembly.

Answer
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Conservative

Answered on
28 April 2021

The UK has been consistently clear that it supports Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organisations where statehood is not a prerequisite. This includes at the WHA, where Taiwan can make a valuable contribution. We remain in regular contact with our closest partners and the Taiwanese authorities, and continue to work to find a constructive solution.

 

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
UIN 185493, tabled on 21 April 2021

Question
Anthony Mangnall
Conservative

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he will support Taiwan’s attendance at the forthcoming 74th session of the World Health Assembly as an observer.

Answer
Nigel Adams
Conservative

Answered on
28 April 2021

The UK has been consistently clear that it supports Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organisations where statehood is not a prerequisite. This includes at the World Health Assembly, where Taiwan can make a valuable contribution.

 

Question for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office
UIN HL14876, tabled on 13 April 2021

Question
Lord Hylton
Crossbench

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for blocking (1) the government of China, and (2) Chinese companies, from acquiring British infrastructure in view of that government’s (a) oppression of the Uighur people in Xinjiang, (b) breaches of the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration, and (c) tactics in relation to Taiwan and elsewhere.

Answer
Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
Conservative

Answered on
28 April 2021

As the Integrated Review sets out, the UK as an open economy needs to engage with China. We will continue to pursue a positive economic relationship while at the same time increasing protection of our critical national infrastructure, institutions and sensitive technology, and strengthening the resilience of our critical supply chains, so that we can engage with confidence. In November 2020, the Government introduced the National Security and Investment Bill to Parliament, which represents a significant upgrade to the UK’s powers to intervene in transactions from any country that would undermine national security.

The UK has responded to China’s actions in Hong Kong by creating a new immigration route for British Nationals (Overseas) and their eligible family members and dependents, suspending the extradition treaty with Hong Kong and extending the arms embargo applied to mainland China to include Hong Kong.

In respect of Xinjiang, the UK has announced measures to help ensure that no British organisations, whether government or private sector, deliberately or inadvertently, are profiting from or contributing to China’s human rights violations in the region and, in March, we imposed Global Human Rights sanctions on four Chinese officials and an entity responsible for those violations, alongside the EU, US and Canada.

We are clear in our discussions with China that our longstanding policy on Taiwan has not changed: we consider the Taiwan issue one that should be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue. We have made clear our concern at any activity by China and Taiwan that risks destabilising the status quo.