Chinese government delegation banned from Queen's Lying-in-State in UK Parliament complex: Reports
London, Sep 16: The UK has refused permission for a high-level Chinese government delegation to attend Queen Elizabeth's Lying-in-State at Westminster Hall within the Parliament complex before the funeral at Westminster Abbey here on September 19, according to UK media reports on Friday.
House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle is said to have refused a request for access to Westminster Hall due to Chinese sanctions against five British members of Parliament and two peers for accusing Beijing of mistreating its Uighur Muslim minority in Xinjiang, Politico' and the BBC have reported.
While the House of Commons said it did not comment on security matters, the media reports claimed that China would have a presence at the funeral but not be allowed into the Parliament building.
As Westminster Hall forms part of the parliamentary estate, it is under the control of the Commons and the Lords Speakers. The move is likely to further strain UK-China relations, which have been under some pressure in recent times.
According to reports, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has invited Chinese President Xi Jinping as Head of State of a country with which the UK has diplomatic relations. It is thought that the vice-president, Wang Qishan, will be sent in his place along with a Chinese delegation.
The latest development comes after the sanctioned MPs had raised objections about the Chinese President being invited to the funeral at all.
In March last year, China had sanctioned nine individuals and four organisations in the UK in retaliation after Britain imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for alleged human rights abuses in its Xinjiang province.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former leader of the Conservative Party, as well as Tory MPs Tom Tugendhat, Neil O'Brien, Tim Loughton and Nusrat Ghani are among those sanctioned as they and their families were banned from entering Chinese territory.
"You cannot have a Golden Age, normal relations, with a country that has now been exposed as committing the sorts of atrocities it has, not least the genocide against the Uighurs, the oppression going on in Tibet for the last 60/70 years, and now what we see going on in Hong Kong as well," Loughton told the BBC.
The sanctioned MPs had sent a letter to the Parliament Speakers earlier this week to seek assurances that representatives from Beijing would not be allowed onto the parliamentary estate. They had also raised objections in a letter to the Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly.
Downing Street has said that it is a convention that countries with which the UK has diplomatic relations should be invited to state funerals. Three national governments have not been invited to the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II over the ongoing war in Ukraine Russia, Belarus and Myanmar.
Several Western countries have imposed sanctions on several senior Chinese following rights abuse allegations against the mostly Muslim Uighur minority group.
China has detained Uighurs at camps in the north-west region of Xinjiang, where allegations of torture, forced labour and sexual abuse have emerged. China has rejected those charges.
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IPL first phase schedule announced amid travel concerns caused by war in West Asia
New Delhi (PTI): Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2026 opener in Bengaluru on March 28 as the BCCI announced the first phase of the tournament schedule amid concerns around players' travel arrangements due to the ongoing West Asia conflict.
All matches scheduled at the Chinnaswamy Stadium remain subject to clearance from the Karnataka government appointed expert committee, which is scheduled to meet on March 13 to assess venue preparedness in the wake of the deadly stampede at the stadium last season.
The BCCI announced the schedule of the first 20 games on Wednesday and will unveil the full schedule once the dates of elections in three states -- Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal -- are announced.
Besides the state elections, the escalating conflict in West Asia will also be at the forefront of BCCI officials' minds. The war has wreaked havoc to international travel with operations of major airports like Doha and Dubai being heavily restricted.
As a result of that, some of the squad members of South Africa and West Indies are yet to reach home a week after the completion of their T20 World Cup campaign.
It remains to be seen if IPL bound players of those two nations report to their respective teams in time.
"There was a substantial delay in departure of West Indies and South Africa players. It would be a tough task to get them back to India on time. Plus the airfares have gone up substantially due to the war in West Asia," a team official told PTI.
Additionally, hotels across India are facing cooking gas shortage due to the raging conflict and on Tuesday, the central government invoked Essential Commodities Act to ensure uninterrupted supply of domestic cooking gas.
Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Viswanthan told PTI that he is expecting his players from the West Indies and South Africa -- Akeal Hossein and Dewald Brevis, to join the team well before their IPL opener.
"We are expecting no delays from their end," he said.
The second game of the opening weekend will see Mumbai Indians host Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium and the opening weekend will not feature any double-headers.
A total of 20 matches will be played across 10 venues: Bengaluru, Mumbai, Guwahati, New Chandigarh, Lucknow, Kolkata, Chennai, Delhi, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.
"During the season, Royal Challengers Bengaluru will play five home matches in Bengaluru and two in Raipur. Punjab Kings will play four home matches in New Chandigarh and three in Dharamshala, while Rajasthan Royals will play three home matches in Guwahati and four in Jaipur," said the BCCI in a statement.
"During this period (the first 16 days), the tournament will feature four double-headers, with the afternoon matches beginning at 03:30 PM IST and the evening matches commencing at 07:30 PM IST.
"Following the opening encounter on Saturday, Mumbai Indians will take on Kolkata Knight Riders at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
"The matches scheduled in Bengaluru are subject to clearance from the Expert Committee constituted by the Government of Karnataka," the BCCI added.
