The Malaysian authorities are in the process of conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse. The Ministry of Defence and British High Commission are in close contact with Malaysian authorities and continue to push for a quick investigation as well as the release of the artefacts back into British hands.

The Malaysian authorities are in the process of conducting a wide-ranging investigation into the illegal salvage of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse. The Ministry of Defence and British High Commission are in close contact with Malaysian authorities and continue to push for a quick investigation as well as the release of the artefacts back into British hands.

HM Government is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all and promoting respect and tolerance.

Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon discussed human rights, including FoRB, with the Government of India, leaders of faith groups and others during his visit to India in May 2023. FoRB was also among the issues discussed during his visit to India in February 2024.

The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions across India consistently monitor human rights in the country, regularly engage with civil society and religious representatives, and have run projects supporting human rights.

India is a multi-faith, multi ethnic democracy and remains among the most religiously diverse societies in the world.

The UK is committed to eradicating all forms of modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking anywhere in the world. Lord [Tariq] Ahmad, Minister for South Asia, raised his concerns about the persecution of religious minorities in Pakistan and the need for legal action to protect minority faith communities with Human Rights and Law Minister Azam Tarar on 15 April. The UK's Aawaz II Accountability, Inclusion and Reducing Modern Slavery Programme and Asia Regional Child Labour Programme are working with partners, including the Government of Pakistan, to reduce child and bonded labour. We will continue to raise the issues affecting religious minorities in Pakistan at the highest levels of Government.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office Act 1996 provides the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office with certain privileges and immunities in line with the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations for the purposes of furthering economic and trade interests. We currently have no plans to replace this legislation.

Sri Lanka is a human rights priority country, and the UK regularly engages with the Government of Sri Lanka on areas of concern, including progress on reconciliation. We recognise the significant doubts expressed by affected communities regarding the credibility of reconciliation mechanisms. The UK has stressed the importance of an inclusive participatory process to build trust. Any mechanism must be independent, meaningful, and transparent, meet the expectations of affected communities, build upon previous transitional justice processes, and provide pathways for accountability. The UK continues to fund work on the removal of landmines and the resettlement of internally displaced communities to support reconciliation efforts.

We have repeatedly condemned Taliban policies and actions that restrict the rights of Afghan women and girls, including through UN Security Council and Human Rights Council resolutions. Officials have directly raised the decision to impose capital and corporal punishments for certain so-called 'crimes' with Taliban leaders, and called on them to reverse the decision and the other discriminatory policies that target women and girls. We will continue to work with the international community to press the Taliban to alter course.

On Monday 13 May, three people were charged with offences under the National Security Act as part of an investigation led by officers from the Met Police's Counter Terrorism Command. The foreign intelligence service to which the charges relate is that of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. As the investigation remains ongoing, we will not comment further in relation to this case.

The UK is closely monitoring the situation in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. We are working with the US, EU and other key partners, to encourage Pakistan to conduct the economic reforms necessary to ensure long-term, sustainable, growth ahead of any future IMF programme. This includes providing direct technical expertise through our £39 million Revenue Mobilisation Investment and Trade programme, £37.5 million Sustainable Energy and Economic Development programme, and £37.5 million Sub-National Governance programme in Pakistan. The Deputy Foreign Secretary met with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Ishaq Dar, on 22 March to underline the importance of economic stability and offer the UK's full support on economic reform.

We are concerned by credible reports of forcible detention and recruitment of the Rohingya by the Myanmar military. This has the potential to further stoke inter-communal tensions. In April, the UK convened the UN Security Council to raise concern over the escalating conflict in Rakhine State. We continue to monitor the situation closely and will continue to use all of our multilateral channels to maintain a spotlight on the situation in Rakhine.

The UK Government continues to monitor the persecution of religious groups in China, including Christians. The freedom to practice, change or share one's faith or belief without discrimination is a human right that all people should enjoy.

The space for religious freedom in China continues to deteriorate, for Christians and other religious minorities. For example, recent new Measures on the Administration of Religious Activity Venues legislation includes widespread restrictions on religious practice such as requirements for priests to conduct sermons promoting core socialist values and Xi Jinping Thought.

The British government works with international organisations and networks to promote and protect freedom of religion or belief for all where it is threatened. This includes work through the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, the Council of Europe, and the International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance.

On 24 April, I met with Hong Kong Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, Christopher Hui during my six-day visit to China and Hong Kong. I raised the deterioration of rights and freedom in the city precipitated by the 2020 National Security Law, and the recent passage of legislation under Article 23. I also raised the case of Jimmy Lai during the meeting. We will continue to raise areas of disagreement or concern in Hong Kong with the Hong Kong and Chinese authorities.

Ministers are briefed regularly and in detail on matters relating to China. They are clear that as with all international bodies operating in the UK, Confucius Institutes must operate transparently and within the law, and with a full commitment to our values of openness and freedom of expression.

FCDO partners including the UN World Food Programme, International Organisation for Migration, and the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) are on the ground providing a response to the recent flooding in Afghanistan, and we have communicated that our partners can use our funds flexibly for flood response. We build such no-notice and climate-induced events into our planning with partners, and they are responding accordingly, while keeping us closely posted on their assessments of damage and impacts.

On Tuesday 14 May, on instruction from the Foreign Secretary, the Chinese Ambassador was summoned to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. The FCDO was unequivocal in setting out that the recent pattern of behaviour directed by China against the UK including cyberattacks, reports of espionage links and the issuing of bounties is not acceptable. The summons followed Monday's announcement that three people have been charged with offences under the National Security Act as part of an investigation led by officers from the Met Police's Counter Terrorism Command. The foreign intelligence service to which the charges relate is that of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. As the investigation remains ongoing, we will not comment further in relation to this case.

The UK Government supports reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), to make it more representative of the world today. This includes our longstanding support for a permanent seat on the UNSC for India, as well as permanent African representation, and permanent seats for Germany, Japan and Brazil. We support an expansion of the non-permanent category of membership, taking the Security Council's total membership to somewhere in the mid-twenties. The UK Government regularly reiterates its support for India's permanent membership of the Security Council, including earlier this year in the UN General Assembly's recent round of intergovernmental negotiations on UNSC reform.

The UK Government is concerned about human rights violations in Tibet. These include restrictions on freedom of religion or belief and on freedom of assembly and association, reports of forced labour, and reports that boarding schools are being used to assimilate Tibetan children into Han culture.

We consistently raise human rights issues with the Chinese authorities, including in relation to Tibet. I raised human rights during my visit to China in April, and the Foreign Secretary did so in a meeting in February with China's Foreign Minister. We also regularly raise Tibet in multilateral fora, including in January at China's Universal Periodic Review, and in March as part of our Item 4 statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The Government engages regularly with relevant counterparts, including university representatives, on issues such as this.

In 2022 we updated our Overseas Business Risk Guidance to make it clear that UK businesses operating in Myanmar should conduct thorough supply chain due diligence. This guidance is regularly updated. Additionally, we have met and will continue to meet with representatives of the UK Insurance Sector, noting the importance of conducting thorough supply chain due diligence in Myanmar to ensure that commodities, such as aviation fuel, do not reach the Myanmar military. We continue to look at further sanction and non-sanction measures to tackle the military's ability to use air capabilities to target civilians.

We use a range of evidence to inform our response to the Myanmar military's continued import of aviation fuel that is used to carry out airstrikes on civilians and civilian infrastructure. In 2023, the UK imposed six sanctions specifically targeting the import of aviation fuel into Myanmar. We continue to explore both sanction and non-sanction measures to tackle the military's ability to use air capabilities to target civilians.