Jeremy Corbyn to raise China's human rights record at state banqu

The Guardian

Rowena Mason
Wednesday 14 October 2015 10.52 EDT

Jeremy Corbyn will attempt to challenge the Chinese on their human rights record when he attends a state banquet to be held by the Queen for the country’s president, Xi Jinping, next week.

There had been speculation that Corbyn, as a republican, might send a substitute to the banquet but Labour has since confirmed he will attend Buckingham Palace for the ceremonial dinner.

A spokesman for the Labour leader said: “He will be using the opportunity next week to raise the issue of human rights. There are meetings being discussed, and if he gets private meetings he will be raising it at those meetings. That is the right thing to do.”

It is Corbyn’s first invitation to a Buckingham Palace state dinner in his role as leader of the opposition. He was unable to make a previous visit to the royal residence to be sworn in to the privy council, although he is expected to do so soon to receive classified security briefings.

Since becoming Labour leader, Corbyn has taken a strong stance on the raising of human rights abuses with other states, and successfully pressed David Cameron to drop a prisons deal with Saudi Arabia.

China has been criticised by campaigners for jailing critics of its communist government, media censorship and restricting personal freedom. However, George Osborne stressed economic issues, rather than human rights, when he visited China for a trade trip last month.

The chancellor said at the time: “This is primarily an economic and financial dialogue. We are two completely different political systems and we raise human rights issues, but I don’t think that is inconsistent with also wanting to do more business with one-fifth of the world’s population.”

The Global Times, a Chinese state-run newspaper, praised Osborne for being “the first western official in recent years who focused on business potential rather than raising a magnifying glass to the ‘human rights issue’”.

Osborne had been urged to raise the persecution of the Uighur minority during his trip to the Xinjiang capital, Urumqi, a year after a court in the city imprisoned the government critic Ilham Tohti for life on charges of inciting separatism.

Kate Allen, UK director of Amnesty International, criticised the chancellor’s failure to mention Tohti’s case and “sending the signal that the UK is willing to compromise its human rights values”.

The UK supported an EU statement that raised concerns about China’s detention of more than 100 activists and lawyers in July and called for their release.

Hugo Swire, a Foreign Office minister, said last month he “remains concerned by the restrictions placed on Christianity in China”, citing the closure or demolition of churches, removal of crosses from buildings, and reports that individuals are harassed or detained for practising their beliefs.