Agenda item

There was one question:

Letter from the World Uyghur Congress

A Member made reference to copies of an open letter sent by the UK Director of the World Uyghur Congress to the Lord Mayor and Chair of Policy, which had been circulated to all Members of the Committee. The letter concerned the City Corporation’s engagement with the government of the Peoples’ Republic of China, with particular reference to the recent Parliamentary debate concerning mistreatment of the Uyghur people, with the Member asking if there was any thought as to an initial response.

Responding, the Chair advised that she would discuss a response with the Lord Mayor but noted that the City Corporation engaged with business partners across the world and throughout the year to promote the City and financial and professional services. In doing so, it was guided by the UK Government on how and when to engage with the Chinese Government and the City would continue to seek guidance from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on the current status of relations with China. She added that the Foreign Secretary had recently said the UK was looking to form a constructive and calibrated approach to engage with China, including on climate change and being clear on the values that the UK holds, and the City would continue to take the Government’s lead.

Through a supplementary question, reference was made to the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance) agenda, of which climate change was a major part, and the ongoing work with the Chinese government on climate change as part of that. It was ventured that human rights was also a significant part of the ESG agenda and, given the serious allegations discussed in Parliament regarding the possibility of modern slavery being practiced in workcamps, should the Corporation not seek to use its position to raise concerns in this regard.

Responding, the Chair advised that the City Corporation condemned all human rights abuses around the world, wherever they were found, adding that its Disaster Relief Fund gave funding to relieve human suffering around the world and help vulnerable people affected by major disasters. She noted that it was for the UK Government to take the lead on many of these issues and the City Corporation should only look to intervene on issues that were relevant to the City and where it was in our interests to do so: the economic links between China and the UK supported well over 100,000 British jobs and UK financial service exports to China were worth £930million in 2019.  Given the economic importance of these ties, she reiterated that the City would continue to take the UK Government’s lead on engaging with China.