Chinese delegation barred from visiting Queen Elizabeth’s lying in state

• Zheng Zeguang, China’s ambassador to Britain, was barred from visiting Parliament last year after MPs sanctioned by Beijing
• Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan expected to arrive in London on Sunday and attend state funeral on Monday

The House of Commons has barred a delegation of Chinese government officials from visiting Queen Elizabeth’s lying in state at Westminster Hall in the latest political rift between London and Beijing, Politico reported on Friday.

House Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has told colleagues that he turned down a request by the Chinese government, Politico said, citing a senior parliamentary figure familiar with the matter.

A Commons spokesman declined to comment on Friday, saying they do not discuss “security matters”. Britain’s Foreign Office did not respond to request for comment on Friday.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said she had not seen the report, but said the UK should “follow the diplomatic protocols and proper manners to receive guests”.

China is one of dozens of nations with diplomatic ties to Britain invited to attend Queen Elizabeth’s state funeral on Monday, with Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan expected to arrive in London on Sunday and attend the funeral.

Russia, Belarus and Myanmar are the only countries known not to receive invitations from the British government.

Queen Elizabeth’s funeral is being held at Westminster Abbey in central London, but she is lying in state at Westminster Hall, the oldest building on the parliamentary campus.

Hoyle and John McFall, the speaker of the House of Lords, barred Zheng Zeguang, China’s ambassador to Britain, from attending Parliament last year after Beijing sanctioned several British lawmakers who have been outspoken about purported human rights abuses against ethnic Muslim Uygurs in the Western region of Xinjiang.

 In general, visiting heads of state have been invited to visit Westminster Hall to view the queen’s coffin and sign a book of condolence at Lancaster House.

 The lying in state snub comes as public sentiment hardens and distrust grows about China in Britain, a decade after former prime minister David Cameron celebrated a “golden era” of investment and cooperation between the nations.

On Wednesday, Conservative lawmakers Tim Loughton, Iain Duncan Smith and other MPs sanctioned by Beijing wrote to the Commons speaker and the foreign secretary, asking for them to rescind the invitation for Chinese officials to attend Monday’s funeral.

 “Given that the United Kingdom Parliament has voted to recognise the genocide committed by the Chinese government against Uygur 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 [from the funeral],” Loughton and other MPs wrote in the letter.

Monday’s funeral is expected to attract dozens of world leaders and members of royalty, with US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron and Japan’s Emperor Naruhito all saying they would attend.