Foreign Office Minister Catherine West has indicated that she will "challenge" Executive Office officials to come up with a "more robust" approach to international affairs after the First and deputy First Minister faced criticism over a meeting they held with Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang at Stormont Castle in May last year.
Minister West was responding to a question in the House of Commons from TUV MP Jim Allister who asked what oversight is there to ensure that we are presenting a united front across the United Kingdom to China.
The North Antrim MP asked what oversight the Foreign Office has in relation to the devolved nations and their connections to China.
Jim Allister pointed to the example of Simon Chang, the pro-democracy Hong Kong activist who is in exile after he he was tortured in China and who has criticised the fact that when the First Minister and deputy First Minister met with the Chinese Ambassador last year, they refused to publish a record of the meeting.
Minister West responded: “Taking his point very seriously, I think we could be doing more and with his permission if he could write to me with his example he’s mentioned today and I’m aware that the Member for Edinburgh from the Liberal Democrat benches also mentioned a particular incident to me in Edinburgh which I was unaware of.
"So with his permission I would like that so that I could challenge some of their officials to come up with a more robust, joined up approach.
"As he is aware, following the General Election in July the Prime Minister first of all set out to Edinburgh, then to Cardiff and then to Belfast to emphasise to the devolved regions the importance of a wholistic way of looking at governance and I think this is a really good example of where we could be doing more.”
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English (United States) ·