Duncan Smith, who is a staunch critic of the Chinese government, had a travel ban placed on him and several other parliamentarians in 2021, reports Marco Marcelline

Photo by Dominic Kurniawan Suryaputra on Unsplash (Inset: Iain Duncan Smith, Credit: UK Parliament)

China has lifted a travel ban it had placed on Chingford and Woodford Green MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith and three other MPs amid Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s visit to the country.

Speaking to reporters in Shanghai today, Starmer said: “This has been a real cause for concern across Parliament. And therefore I did raise it and we had a discussion.

“And as a result, it’s clear from the Chinese that the restrictions no longer apply. And President Xi said what that means is that all parliamentarians are free to travel to China.”

Duncan Smith has been outspoken in his criticisms of the Chinese state for many years. Alongside highlighting human rights abuses committed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime, he has opposed the transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a country with close ties to the CCP.

China imposed the parliamentarian travel bans in 2021 in response to sanctions that had been placed on four Chinese officials and a state-run organisation involved in human rights abuses in Xinjiang province, including against the Uyghur Muslim minority.

Since 2017, China has put more than one million Uyghurs into internment camps, according to Amnesty International. In 2022, the UN high commissioner for human rights said Beijing’s treatment of ethnic minorities in Xinjiang may constitute “crimes against humanity”.

The Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC), of which Duncan Smith is a member, released a statement today (30th January) stating they “took no comfort” in the decision and will continue to voice their opposition to China.

They said: “We have learned through media reporting that the People’s Republic of China has lifted the sanctions imposed on us in 2021 for raising concerns in Parliament about human rights abuses in China.

“We were not contacted by anyone in government prior to this decision being made public, and we expect clear assurances that UK sanctions against the four Chinese government officials responsible for genocide remain firmly in place.”

Pointing out that sanctions have not been lifted on former MP Tim Loughton, nor on Essex Court Chambers, Sir Geoffrey Nice KC, the Uyghur Tribunal, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, or Dr Joanne Smith Finley, IPAC also stated it was “unclear” if sanctions on their family members are still in force.

The group continued: “The selective lifting of sanctions solely on sitting parliamentarians is wrong. Parliament exists to represent and defend the people of the United Kingdom.

“Seeking or accepting preferential treatment for current MPs and peers sends a damaging signal that some are more deserving of protection than others. While British citizen Jimmy Lai remains imprisoned, and Uyghurs continue to suffer atrocity crimes, we take no comfort in this decision and will not be silenced.

“We look forward to receiving urgent assurances from the government regarding those who were placed under sanction together with us, and take this opportunity to express our ongoing solidarity with the Uyghur people, whose cause we will not drop. We hope that the Prime Minister will meet all of those sanctioned, not just sitting parliamentarians, upon his return.”

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