Sir Julian Lewis: Like every other communist regime that has ever existed, the Chinese Government behave with ruthlessness, impunity and unmitigated mendacity. I therefore welcome the strong words in the statement from the Foreign Secretary, but what Members on both sides of the House wish to see is stronger actions. It is not so much a case of one country, two systems, as of one Government and two faces. If our Government cannot even say that a country that poses so many strategic threats is itself a threat, we have an awfully long way to go.

[The Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs (Yvette Cooper): I note that the right hon. Member obviously shares the concerns about, and joins the calls for the release of, Jimmy Lai. On the wider issues, I have been very clear about the national security threats posed by China – for example, transnational oppression, support for Russia in the war on Ukraine and cyber-threats, on which we have recently introduced more sanctions. However, because of our strong history – our economic history as well as our political history – with Hong Kong, China is the UK’s third largest trading partner. Those are not things we can trade off. We do not trade off them, as the Prime Minister made very clear in his speech a few weeks ago. National security is always the first duty of any Government, but alongside pursuing threats and human rights issues, we must recognise that trading relationship. We should ensure that we pursue both, but that we pursue national security issues as the first duty.]