China lifts 'all restrictions' on 6 members of UK Parliament, says UK premier

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) - The British prime minister said Friday that China has lifted "all restrictions" on six current members of the UK Parliament after talks with President Xi Jinping.

Travel bans and other sanctions "no longer apply" to four Conservative MPs in the House of Commons and two peers in the House of Lords, Keir Starmer told the BBC in Shanghai.

Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Starmer in Beijing on Thursday, as the British premier is paying a three-day visit aiming to create "opportunities" that will "benefit" the UK.

Starmer has become the first UK prime minister to visit Beijing since 2018.

Meanwhile, Starmer said the decision to lift restrictions "vindicated" his approach, suggesting his visit to China had "provided the opportunity for a leader-to-leader discussion on sensitive issues."

Meanwhile, the MPs and peers targeted said in a statement that they did not want to be "used as a bargaining chip" and would rather remain sanctioned, the BBC reported.

The Conservatives have also accused Starmer of "kowtowing" to China, while Starmer said he knew the sanctions on MPs and peers were "a cause of concern, which is why I did raise it."