Daniel Kawczynski – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Daniel Kawczynski on 2016-01-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Chinese government on the sovereignty of the Spratly Islands archipelago; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Hugo Swire

The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my right hon. Friend the Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Mr Hammond), expressed our concerns about the situation in the South China Sea most recently during his visit to Beijing on 5 January. He stressed the need to avoid raising tensions and underlined the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation.
I set out the UK’s position during the Asia-Europe Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Luxembourg on 5-6 November 2015.