Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Defence Relationships: South East Asia

Monday 3 February 2020 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 2 Partly answered 0 Not answered 0

Key points

  • UK has a vital role in ensuring freedom of navigation and providing defence solutions in South East Asia
  • Government aims to strengthen work with the five power defence arrangements and deepen bilateral relationships with ASEAN member states
  • Policy on Huawei is measured, allowing limited access to 5G market while banning it in critical network parts

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Richard Graham Con
Defence Foreign Affairs
Context

The UK's defence relationship with south-east Asian nations, focusing on the importance of the South China Sea as a navigation route and source of intra-nation disputes.

Question

Does my right hon. Friend agree that the UK has a vital role to play in ensuring freedom of navigation, providing defence and cyber solutions to south-east Asia, and boosting the five power defence arrangement, as part of our deepening relationship with ASEAN?

Answer from Ben Wallace (The Secretary of State for Defence)

I agree. The international rules-based system is being threatened in Asia and across the Pacific, particularly the South China sea. We want to strengthen work with the five power defence arrangements and deepen bilateral relationships with ASEAN member states.

Answered
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Q2 Nia Griffith Lab
Foreign Affairs Science & Technology
Context

The Government's stance on challenging China in the South China Sea and granting Huawei access to UK telecoms systems.

Question

Despite challenging China militarily, why has the Government granted Huawei significant access to our cyber and telecoms systems?

Answer from Ben Wallace (The Secretary of State for Defence)

Our policy is measured, testing freedom of navigation in the Pacific while listening to experts on Huawei. We allow a limited amount of 5G market access but cap its use, ban it in parts of the network, and reduce dependency over time.

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