UK Government suspends Hong Kong extradition treaty 'immediately and indefinitely' over China's security law

Dominic Raab has announced the suspension of Britain’s extradition treaty with Hong Kong "immediately and indefinitely" amid rising tensions with China.

The extradition treaty allows a person from Hong Kong suspected of a crime in the UK to be handed over to face justice – and vice versa.

The Foreign Secretary said the Government will also extend the arms embargo that currently apples to China to Hong Kong, and that this would include a ban on exporting of equipment used for “internal oppression”.

He warned: “The United Kingdom is watching and the whole world is watching.”

Mr Raab's announcement today comes after Beijing imposed a Draconian new security law on the former British colony which prompted the UK Government to offer three million Hong Kong residents the chance to settle in Britain.

The Government has shelved the extradition arrangement, which has been in place for more than 30 years, rather than completely tearing it up.

It is thought the latter option is being held back as a “final lever to pull” if China fails to change direction.

Outlining his announcement, the Foreign Secretary was keen to stress that "we want to work with China.”

However, he told the Commons they were “clear sighted” about challenges ahead and singled out China's treatment of Uighur Muslims.

In a statement in the Commons, Mr Raab said: "We will always protect our vital interests including sensitive infrastructure and we won't accept any investment that compromises our domestic or national security."

Mr Raab’s words are expected to further escalate tensions between London and Beijing with rows simmering over coronavirus, Huawei and alleged human rights abuses concerning the treatment of Uighur Muslims.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said earlier today he had “concerns” over the Hong Kong security law and the new measures were in response to that.

He added: “There is a balance here. I'm not going to be pushed into a position of becoming a knee-jerk Sinophobe on every issue, somebody who is automatically anti-China.

"But we do have serious concerns. We have concerns about the treatment of the Uighur minority obviously, about the human rights abuses.”

Canada and Australia have both already suspended their extradition arrangements with Hong Kong and the US is considering the same action.

UIGHURS

China’s treatment of the Uighur Muslims is another source of growing tension between London and Beijing

Dominic Raab has accused China of "gross and egregious" human rights abuses against the minority group.

He said reports of forced sterilisation and wider persecution of the Uighurs were "reminiscent of something not seen for a long time".

It is believed that up to a million Uighur people have been detained over the past few years in what China calls "re-education camps".

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has also described the way Uighur people were being treated as “inappropriate” and “gross”.

China's UK ambassador Liu Xiaoming was shown drone footage appearing to show Uighurs being blindfolded and led to trains on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday.

Mr Xiaoming said talk of concentration camps was "fake" and that the Uighurs received the same treatment under the law as other ethnic groups in his country

Backbench Tories have been calling for Mr Johnson to take a tougher stance on China with MP Tobias Ellwood warning that the UK is “sliding towards a cold war” with China.

He told the BBC’s Radio 4 Westminster Hour that the UK had been duped over China and that now was the time to say “enough is enough”.

He added: “I really want to see a reset of our entire foreign policy, bearing in mind that we are sliding towards a cold war, we can’t do this on our own, we need to work with our allies.

“We turned a blind eye to what was going on with the Uighur popular, we turned a blind eye to the uneven trade situation whereby Chinese companies could operate quite liberally within the UK and elsewhere but our companies couldn’t operate within China and now I think it’s time to say enough is enough.

Mr Johnson has promised to be "tough" with China in some areas but said he would not "completely abandon our policy of engagement" with Beijing.

He added: “China is a giant factor of geopolitics, it's going to be a giant factor in our lives and in the lives of our children and grandchildren.

"You have got to have a calibrated response and we are going to be tough on some things but also going to continue to engage."

TikTok

TikTok today insisted there is “zero truth” in allegations that the Chinese state can access personal information of users.

A number of senior Conservative MPs have voiced concerns over the social media platform which they say poses a similar security threat as Huawei. They include former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith who has called for TikTok to be banned in the UK.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also claimed that people should only use the social media app if they are happy for their data to be accessed by the Chinese state.

However, TikTok's head of public policy for Europe Theo Bertram said the claims were “completely false” in an interview with BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

He said: “TikTok is not available in China. TikTok data is stored in the US. TikTok is a company incorporated in the US.

"There is zero truth to the accusations that the Chinese state has access to TikTok users' data."

The social media app is owned by internet company ByteDance, which was founded in 2012 by Chinese entrepreneur Zhang Yiming

Relations between the UK and China were already deteriorating when Mr Johnson pulled a U-turn over Huawei last week.

The Government revealed plans to ban the Chinese tech giant from the UK's 5G network saying they could no longer be confident in guaranteeing the security of future Huawei 5G equipment.

Beijing responded by warning that the UK faces retaliation over the decision.

It comes as US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was flying in to the UK today for official talks and is expected to urge the Government to toughen its stance against on China.

However, he is due to meet with a cross-party group of 20 MPs - seen as “hawks” on China - before his meeting with the Foreign Secretary and Prime Minister in a move which will be seen by some as a snub to Downing Street.