Chinese ambassador to U.K. barred from enterting Parliament

In a sign of diplomatic war between China and the United Kingdom, Chinese ambassador to Britain has been barred from attending an event in British parliament by the Speakers. Britain’s move came after Beijing imposed sanctions on UK lawmakers earlier this year as they highlighted alleged human right abuses in China’s Xinjiang province.Speaker of the House of Commons Lindsay Hoyle and Speaker of the House of Lords John McFall stepped in yesterday to prevent Chinese ambassador Zheng Zeguang from speaking at the event. Hoyle said he was not banning the Chinese ambassador permanently, but only while the sanctions remained in place. Zheng was due to address the All-Party Parliamentary China Group, which is made up of members from both houses of parliament. China had imposed sanctions on nine British politicians, lawyers and an academic in March this year allegedly for spreading lies and disinformation over the treatment of Uighur Muslims.China has repeatedly denied all accusations of abuse and says its camps offer vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

The move came shortly after Britain, the US, Canada and the European Union sanctioned Chinese officials over Xinjiang. The sanctioned parliamentarians welcomed the ban, saying allowing Zheng in the Parliament building would have been "an insult."The Chinese Embassy in the UK condemned the move and said it will harm the interests of both countries. "The despicable and cowardly action of certain individuals of the UK Parliament to obstruct normal exchanges and co-operation between China and the UK for personal political gains is against the wishes and harmful to the interests of the peoples of both countries," the embassy said in a statement.