Archive for ‘Downing Street’

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01/06/2020

Hong Kong: Boris Johnson urged to form alliance over China security law

Riot police detain a group of people during a protest in the Causeway Bay district of Hong KongImage copyright AFP
Image caption Beijing’s proposed security law has sparked protests in Hong Kong

Seven former UK foreign secretaries have urged Boris Johnson to form a global alliance to coordinate the response to the China-Hong Kong crisis.

China is facing mounting criticism over a planned security law for Hong Kong which would make it a crime to undermine Beijing’s authority.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said the UK would not turn a blind eye.

Hong Kong was handed back to China from British control in 1997 but under a unique agreement.

The former British colony enjoys some freedoms not seen in mainland China – and these are set out in a mini-constitution called the Basic Law.

But there are fears the proposed law, which has sparked a mass of anti-mainland protests in Hong Kong, could compromise some of the freedoms guaranteed by the Basic Law.

In their letter to the prime minister, the cross-party group of former cabinet ministers says the UK government must be seen to lead the international response, as many countries take their cue from Britain over its former colony.

Jeremy Hunt, David Miliband, Jack Straw, William Hague, Malcolm Rifkind, David Owen and Margaret Beckett all expressed their concern at what they call China’s “flagrant breach” of Sino-British agreements by imposing tough national security laws on Hong Kong.

They urged Mr Johnson to set up an “international contact group” of allies to coordinate any joint action, similar to that set up in 1994 to try to end the conflict in the former Yugoslavia.

A Downing Street spokesman insisted the government was already playing a leading role with international partners in urging China to think again.

Mr Raab said the new security legislation “very clearly violates” the autonomy that is guaranteed under Chinese law as well as that in the 1997 agreement.

He confirmed the UK will allow those who hold British National (Overseas) passports to come to the UK and apply to study and work for an extendable 12-month period.

This will in turn “provide a path to citizenship”, he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday.

Mr Raab said up to three million people registered as a British national (overseas) in Hong Kong could be eligible for UK citizenship if China presses ahead with the law.

Meanwhile, the chairman of Commons foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat, said the government must realise that China has a “very, very authoritarian system of government” and should rethink the partnership between the two.

Source: The BBC

Posted in "flagrant breach", "international contact group", "provide a path to citizenship", "very clearly violates", 12-month, 1997 agreement, Andrew Marr Show, authoritarian system of government, autonomy, BBC's, boris johnson, Britain, British National (Overseas), China security law, China-Hong Kong crisis, Chinese law, Commons foreign affairs committee, concern, countries, cue, David Miliband, David Owen, Downing Street, extendable, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, form alliance, former colony., freedoms, global alliance, Hong Kong, international partners, Jack Straw, Mainland China, Malcolm Rifkind, Margaret Beckett, national security laws, passports, Period, response, Sino-British agreements, Sunday, the Basic Law, to coordinate, to study, UK citizenship, UK foreign secretaries, Uncategorized, urged, William Hague, work, Yugoslavia | Leave a Comment »

12/03/2020

Huawei: Government wins vote after backbench rebellion

Man walks in front of a Huawei signImage copyright GETTY IMAGES

The government has defeated the first rebellion from its own MPs over plans to allow Huawei to be used in the UK’s 5G mobile network.

Thirty-eight Conservative rebels backed an amendment to end the Chinese firm’s participation in the project by the start of 2023.

Despite promises from the government of a new bill to address their concerns, rebel MPs pushed their plan to a vote.

But with a large Commons majority, the government defeated it by 24 votes.

Culture Minister Matt Warman said the government had heard the points “loud and clear”.

He added: “We will now engage intensively with colleagues across the House to make sure that we will make our case at every possible level…and we will underline that we will always put national security at the very top of our agenda.”

The use of Huawei technology in the 5G network was signed off by No 10 and security experts earlier this year, with the caveats of keeping the kit out of the most sensitive areas and capping its market share at 35%.

But Tory critics say the firm is an arm of the Chinese state and a risk to UK security – claims the firm rejects.

Other countries, including the US and Australia, have banned Huawei from their own networks and criticised the UK’s decision.

After the Commons vote, Huawei vice president Victor Zhang, said: “An evidence-based approach is needed, so we were disappointed to hear some groundless accusations asserted.

“The industry and experts agree that banning Huawei equipment would leave Britain less secure, less productive and less innovative.”

Presentational grey line
Analysis box by Norman Smith, assistant political editor

Today’s revolt on Huawei leaves Boris Johnson with one king-sized political headache.

It will likely prompt a bout of teeth gnashing in Downing Street that so many Tories should be ready to defy the PM so soon after he delivered them a whopping election victory.

But it will also sting that their ranks were made up of some of the most senior Tory MPs, including a solid block of former cabinet ministers.

In other words, these are not the sort of MPs who No 10 might expect to be able to bully back into line.

And this matters because the rebellion could pave the way for an even bigger one in the summer that could yet overturn the Huawei decision, with several Tory MPs making clear they are ready to join the rebels once the key 5G legislation comes back to the Commons.

A defeat for Mr Johnson over such a high profile issue would be a deeply wounding blow – all the more so since he went out on a limb to give his personal go-ahead to Huawei despite the fury of the White House and other allies.

Time perhaps for the PM to root out the paracetamol.

Presentational grey line

A group of Tory MPs, led by the party’s former leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, put forward an amendment to the Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill to try and stop Huawei’s involvement.

The amendment would have seen firms classified as “high-risk vendors” by the National Cyber Security Centre be banned entirely from the UK’s 5G project by 31 December 2022.

Sir Iain said he and his colleagues were “genuinely concerned that this country has got itself far too bound in to a process in which we are reliant on untrusted vendors”.

Speaking in the Commons, the backbencher accused the Chinese government of spending 20 years “underbidding” other technology firms until Huawei dominated the market, and the outcome was a risk to the UK’s security.

He said using Huawei’s technology was a “statement of absence of thought by any government”, adding: “If defence of the realm is our number one priority, then this becomes demi-defence of the realm, and I am simply not prepared to put up with that.”

Media caption IDS warns UK “in thrall” to untrusted telecoms providers

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden tried to reassure the group of backbenchers with the promise of bringing forward a Telecoms Security Bill before the summer recess “so all honourable members will be able to debate these points extensively”.

He also said the government wanted to work with its Five Eyes security partners – including the US – on alternative solutions so the UK could “get to a position where we do not have to use high-risk vendors at all”.

But Mr Dowden could not give a timetable for the exclusion of such companies, except to say it would be “in this Parliament” – meaning within the next five years.

As a result, Sir Iain pushed his amendment to a vote, marking the first Tory rebellion against the government since Boris Johnson won the election in December.

However, while 282 MPs from across the House voted in favour of the amendment, 306 MPs voted against, defeating it.

There were 38 Conservative MPs who rebelled against their government by voting for the amendment – including former international trade secretary Liam Fox, ex-Brexit secretary David Davis and former housing minister Esther McVey.

Conservative MP and Foreign Affairs Committee chairman, Tom Tugendhat, also voted in favour of the amendment, saying he did “not get the commitments” he wanted from the government.

“I am sorry that I could not support the government. I hope the policy will change before we come to the main Telecoms Security Bill before the summer.”

The Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill later passed without needing a vote.

Source: The BBC

Posted in 5G, Commons, Culture Minister, Downing Street, Government, Huawei, MPs, PM, Technology, Telecommunications Infrastructure Bill, Telecoms Security Bill, Tories, Uncategorized, wins | Leave a Comment »

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