China Should Be Barred From Coronation, Sanctioned UK Lawmakers Say

The Great Clocks of the Elizbeth Tower, commonly known as the Big Ben, and part of the House of Commons, (L) is pictured in front of Westminster Abbey in central London, on March 29, 2017. Justin Tallis/AFP via Getty Images

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regime should be barred from the coronation of King Charles III, British parliamentarians who have been sanctioned by Beijing have argued.

Charles, who became king after the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September 2022, will be formally crowned alongside his wife at a ceremony to be held at Westminster Abbey on May 6.

Leaders and representatives of foreign states are customarily invited to attend the ceremony, but some British lawmakers have warned that China’s attendance would be unacceptable due to the regime’s crimes against humanity and the threat it poses to the UK.

Conservative Party MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith speaks in the chamber of the House of Commons, Westminster, London on Oct. 18, 2021. House of Commons/PA Media

Sir Iain Duncan Smith, a senior Conservative MP who was sanctioned by Beijing in 2021 for speaking out against the CCP’s abuse of Uyghur Muslims, told The Telegraph: “I object to it personally, because I’m sanctioned by them and I think they’re guilty of genocide and a whole litany of crimes against humanity.”

Beijing’s “threats to Taiwan” and “tacit support of Russia” were further reasons Duncan Smith said he opposed an invitation for China to the May event.

Lord Alton, a crossbench member of the House of Lords who was also sanctioned by the regime, told the newspaper: “Putting out the red carpet in every sense is the wrong thing to do. From Taiwan to Tibet, from Hong Kong to Xinjiang and to the increasing direct threats to the security of the UK, these should all be a wake-up call to us.”

He said the coronation is “the ultimate celebration of our constitutional parliamentary democracy and everything which runs counter to Chinese Communist Party dictatorship,” and that Chinese dignitaries “should not be accorded the usual diplomatic niceties.”

China’s involvement “would send out confusing and contradictory signals,” Lord Alton said.

Lord Alton speaks on the genocide amendment in the House of Lords, Westminster, London, on Feb. 23, 2021. Screenshot via The Epoch Times

‘Extraordinary’

Arrangements for the coronation—like those for the Queen’s funeral in September—will be diplomatically sensitive, given the likely presence of leaders from scores of different countries.

The scale of the event could be even larger than the Queen’s funeral in September, partly because overseas leaders will have more time to plan their travel.

The funeral saw leaders from most countries receive an invitation. But representatives from Russia, Belarus, Myanmar, Syria, Venezuela, and Afghanistan were not invited, while Iran, North Korea, and Nicaragua were invited only at the ambassadorial level.

In the run-up of the state funeral, some of the sanctioned lawmakers raised concerns about the Chinese delegation’s invitation to the Queen’s funeral, calling it “extraordinary.”

China's Vice-President Wang Qishan arrives for the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II at Westminster Abbey, London, on Sept. 19, 2022. Phil Noble - WPA Pool/Getty Images

In a letter to the speakers of both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, Duncan Smith, his fellow Conservative MP Tim Loughton, Lord Alton, and Labour peer Baroness Helena Kennedy said they were “greatly concerned” to hear that “the government of China has been invited to attend the state funeral next week, despite other countries Russia, Belarus, and Myanmar being excluded.”

“Given that the United Kingdom Parliament has voted to recognise the genocide committed by the Chinese government against the Uyghur people it is extraordinary that the architects of that genocide should be treated in any more favourable way than those countries who have been barred,” they said.

China was ultimately represented by Vice-President Wang Qishan at the state funeral, while a delegation from the country also attended the Queen’s lying in state in Westminster Hall.

Ambassador Banned

But the sanctioned parliamentarians did succeed in getting the Chinese ambassador banned from the House of Parliament.

In September 2021, China’s ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, was invited to a House of Commons reception hosted by the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on China.

Zheng Zeguang, then China's assistant minister of foreign affairs, is seen speaking at a news conference in Chicago, on Dec. 18, 2014. AP Photo/Teresa Crawford

Some of the sanctioned lawmakers wrote to the Speakers in protest against the invitation. They said it would be “unthinkable” that “the prime representative of the Chinese government in the UK is still apparently free to come to Westminster and to use facilities here as a mouthpiece for his regime” even after Parliament itself has been directly targeted by the regime.

In response to the protest, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the House of Commons, said: “I regularly hold meetings with ambassadors from across the world to establish enduring ties between countries and parliamentarians. But I do not feel it’s appropriate for the ambassador for China to meet on the Commons estate and in our place of work when his country has imposed sanctions against some of our members.”

A spokeswoman for Lord McFall, Speaker of the House of Lords, confirmed that the Speakers of both houses “are in agreement that this particular APPG China meeting should take place elsewhere considering the current sanctions against members.”

PA Media contributed to this report.