A DFID spokesperson said:
Our thoughts are with Becky’s family and friends at this very upsetting time. There is now a police investigation and the Foreign Office is providing consular support to Becky’s family and working with the local authorities.
Follow the DFID Media office on Twitter – @DFID_Press
]
Speaking at the UN Security Council meeting on North Korea on 15 December, Foreign & Commonwealth Minister for Asia Mark Field MP said:
Thank you Mr Foreign Minister for bringing us together for this important meeting under the Japanese presidency of the Security Council.
And thank you too, for the Secretary-General Guterres for your comprehensive briefing on the clear global threats and the challenges that destabilising conduct of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea present to us all.
I should like to start by discussing the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It was, it is, a great diplomatic achievement and remains the cornerstone of our international security.
As signatories, we have all benefited from its protections. It is our collective responsibility, and it is in our collective interests, to ensure that all nations stand by their commitments and obligations under the Treaty and its associated agreements.
It is also our duty as members of this Council and as responsible international actors.
We must abide by our collective rules, we must defend our values and we must work together in this Council, to safeguard a system of international security that benefits the whole of humanity.
North Korea repeatedly and wilfully rebuffs these systems and our collective values.
Earlier this week, members of the Council heard appalling and harrowing accounts of the regime’s brutal treatment of its own people. Of women forced to drown their newborn babies as the regime didn’t consider them to be racially pure. They heard multiple examples of violations of foreign citizens’ rights, including of course Mr President, of those of your own country, Japan.
Today, we meet yet again to condemn North Korea’s illegal and dangerous nuclear weapons programme. Kim Jong-Un claims that he wants to be a responsible actor, and that he wishes to bring security and prosperity to his people. The regime’s actions, exemplified by their systematic violation of human rights and their nuclear weapons programme, demonstrate precisely the opposite intent.
North Korea’s pursuit of an intercontinental nuclear weapon is increasingly destabilising for us all. North Korea has fired some 20 ballistic missiles this year. We have seen three intercontinental ballistic missile launches and two missiles launched across and over the territory of Northern Japan.
Now, in response to these actions this Council has unanimously, and appropriately, decided to impose the strictest sanctions in a generation upon North Korea.
Our community of nations has shown its deep condemnation of the regime by taking these sanctions seriously. This has of course started to have an impact. We all have the responsibility of ensuring these sanctions are fully and properly implemented so that they have the desired effect.
Now that North Korea’s arms dealers are discovering that their usual routes to clients are closed, their diplomats are struggling to process bank transactions for contraband goods. Their exporters of manual labour are finding their contracts are not being renewed.
We must not just keep this pressure up, but we must increase it. We must share information and expertise to prevent North Korea from using front companies or illicit channels to evade sanctions.
We must all co-operate fully with the UN’s highly competent and professional Panel of Experts on North Korea sanctions and we strongly commend their work and will continue actively to support them.
But we should be clear that the reason we enforce sanctions is to force Kim Jong-Un to see that he has the choice of two paths.
His current path will lead his country to greater poverty and isolation, and threatens not just North Korea’s but the global security.
He can, he must, choose to change course. He can choose to comply with the UN Security Council resolutions and to join the community of law-abiding nations. He can choose to let his people express themselves through debate and commerce.
This is the real path to security and prosperity for the North Korean people. Only Kim can now make this choice and we must all work together here to persuade him to make the right choice.
Our message to Kim Jong-Un and his regime must be clear and united: for the wellbeing of your countrymen and the safety of your neighbours and the wider world, you must change course. I hope the North Korean representative here today conveys these strong messages back to Pyongyang.
Mr President, we must all work together and use all the diplomatic and economic tools at our disposal to deliver this uncompromising message.
Let us stand firm. Let us stand fast to our values.
The world looks to all of us here to defend our system of international security. For the sake of future generations of humankind, we must now rise to this challenge.
Speaking at the UN Security Council Arria on climate security, Foreign Office Minister Mark Field MP said:
Thank you Mr. President.
And thank you to our briefers, H.E. Halbe Zijlstra, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and Ms. Caitlin Werrel.
Climate change presents an urgent threat to us all and the planet we inhabit. I am grateful to address the Council on this crucial topic. A topic that is so important to the UK – the first Security Council debate on the relationship between climate and security was convened by the United Kingdom ten years ago.
Since then, climate-related security threats have become more pressing.
Understandably a core focus of this Council is conflict resolution and prevention, however it is striking that in 2016, three times as many people were displaced by natural disasters as by conflict.
This year we have also seen many extreme weather events and climate-related disasters – droughts in Somalia, hurricanes in the Caribbean, flooding in India and Bangladesh.
As the 13th Sustainable Development Goal makes clear, climate change has a direct impact on development. Goal 16 makes clear that development and peace are inexplicitly linked.
Therefore it is irrefutable that climate change needs to be considered by this Council to promote peace, security and development for all.
Without concerted global action to limit and manage the impact of climate change, we could reverse the huge gains in global poverty reduction which we have achieved over the last three decades.
Part of this action must be a quick response to climate related disasters to minimise impact and preserve life. The UK works closely with countries in the Caribbean, Asia and Africa to build resilience. We are providing an additional $71 million funding to extend this work.
We have provided $40 million to set up the London based Centre for Global Disaster Protection, in partnership with the World Bank, to ensure an earlier and more rapid response to disasters.
This will not only save lives, but also allow countries to recover more quickly, reducing the long-run impacts on poverty alleviation and economic growth.
However we recognise that prevention is always better than the cure. If we are to avoid the worst impacts on the most vulnerable, the answer to this is not to react to climate change after the fact but invest now to manage the risk. Helping vulnerable countries to build their resilience to natural disasters and adapt to the impacts of climate change is crucial.
It is for this reason that we have consistently encouraged robust international action on climate security, including by launching the G7’s work on climate and fragility in 2013. As my Prime Minister stated this in Paris week, “we stand firmly with those who find themselves on the frontline of rising sea levels and extreme weather”.
Together with our partners, we have committed to jointly mobilise $100bn per year in climate finance to developing countries from public and private sources.
This was instrumental in securing the landmark Paris Agreement, which is crucial for ensuring global economic security and sustainable development.
As part of this commitment, we pledged to provide at least $7.5 billion of International Climate Finance between 2016 and 2020. We are aiming to support mitigation and adaptation equally. This places us amongst the world’s leading providers of climate finance.
We must look at actions to promote climate security in a holistic way. We must recognise that causes and responses are interlinked. Individually sensible actions can miss opportunities or have unintended consequences. We need coherent planning that considers opportunities and risks across sectors and over time.
Doing so is vital to build sustainable peace in conflict areas, to promote sustainable development and to build livelihoods that are resilient to the impacts of climate change. And ultimately create a future that is more secure and more prosperous for us all.
Around £1.4 billion worth of commercial deals, an agreement to accelerate the final preparations for the London-Shanghai Stock Connect initiative and new commitments to develop work on the Mutual Recognition of Funds and a bond connect, have been announced as part of the 9th UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) held in Beijing this weekend. And in a boost to UK businesses operating along the Belt and Road in Asia, up to £25 billion in financial support – such as loan guarantees – has also been announced.
The wide-ranging dialogue further strengthened the Golden Era in UK-China relations, successfully boosting cooperation across the two countries’ strategic partnership.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond said:
These successful talks are an example of Global Britain at its best, demonstrating that we can work with our friends and partners across the world to support jobs, businesses and prosperity. This is testament to our strong and dynamic economy, and the world class talent and expertise we have to offer.
These talks show the UK is truly open for business and we look forward to continuing the Golden Era of UK-China relations.
The Economic and Financial Dialogue involved a series of events over a two-day period, where agreements were reached on areas of trade and investment, deepening the financial services relationship, new partnerships on industrial strategy, and further ways in which the UK can partner on infrastructure initiatives.
These included:
Final preparations for the London-Shanghai Stock Connect initiative, which will mean investors in each country will be able to trade shares listed on the other’s stock exchange, are to be accelerated. Building on this, the first steps were also taken in establishing a bond connect, with a view to opening up the bond market to mutual trading. There was also an agreement to progress Mutual Recognition of Funds work with the launch of a feasibility study, opening up China to the UK’s unrivaled asset management sector. The UK and China also engaged in deeper regulatory cooperation, including on financial stability, through the first meeting of the PBOC-Bank of England Symposium.
The EFD set out further ways in which the UK, and specifically London as a global financial centre, can partner on the Belt and Road Initiative. To showcase the expertise the UK has to offer, Douglas Flint, former Chairman of HSBC Group, was announced as the Chancellor’s City Envoy to the BRI, and a City Expert Board will be established to bring together infrastructure financing, professional and emerging market expertise. Together these initiatives will facilitate further cooperation with China and create commercial opportunities for UK firms. In support of this Standard Chartered Bank also announced its support for the BRI by committing to facilitate financing to the value of at least $20 billion by 2020.
UK Export Finance affirmed up to £25 billion capacity to support new business in BRI countries in Asia, in a boost to UK businesses selling their goods and services. The UK and China also agreed to identify specific BRI projects to act as pathfinders for UK and Chinese collaboration, and to conduct research on mechanisms to support private sector financing of infrastructure development across the BRI. China recognises the UK’s world leading reputation in this area and greater partnership will increase global investment in UK infrastructure firms and enable them to export this expertise globally.
Showing that the UK is open for business, the EFD saw a range of commercial announcements, worth around £1.4 billion. These include an agreement between Smiths Interconnect and Huafeng to establish a new joint venture working on products for High Speed Rail and commercial aviation; the establishment of UK fintech firm World First’s office and wholly foreign owned enterprise in Shanghai; and a partnership agreement between Tsinghua X-lab and Future Planet Capital to invest in innovative companies. The EFD also made substantial progress on issues which could unlock billions of pounds worth of agreements in the future. And in order to boost trade and investment and lay the foundations for a deeper future trading relationship ahead of the UK leaving the EU, the inaugural meeting of the new UK-China Trade Working Group took place. Progress was also made on implementing a reduction in tariffs on a range of food, retail and pharmaceutical goods, and the talks also built on previous EFDs in taking steps towards China lifting its ban on UK beef exports, put in place following the BSE crisis of the 90s.
The UK and China discussed opportunities to collaborate on the UK’s new Industrial Strategy and welcomed the launch of a new UK China Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy. The UK are world leaders in innovative technologies like electric vehicles, so to build on the next generation electric vehicle package set out by the Chancellor at Budget and ensure Britain remains at the front of the pack in this market, a new collaboration was launched on zero carbon transport and Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs). This includes cooperation on the £400 million Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund announced at the recent Autumn Budget. Discussions were also held with China’s most influential electric vehicles think tank, EV100, about collaborating more closely with Chinese automotive leaders to make it easier for UK and Chinese businesses to work together, boosting investment and creating more jobs.
The accompanying Energy Dialogue with China’s National Energy Administration saw the signing of an Action Plan to further cooperation between the UK and China on clean energy. Agreements were made between UK and Chinese businesses and research organisations to further develop renewable energy cooperation. The UK’s offshore Renewable Catapult will be linking up with TusPark Newcastle and TusWind to further offshore wind technology development between the UK and China, and UK-based engineering consultancy Mott Macdonald and the China Energy Engineering Corporation to work together in third countries on renewable energy projects.
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Jones said:
Britain is an innovative hub, home to skills and services that are in high demand around the world. We are world leaders in electric vehicle technology and working with China will enable us to export this expertise globally.
Deepening our trade and investment links will help create an UK economy fit for the future by generating new jobs and modern skills across the country.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Barclay said:
The relationship between the UK and China has brought real benefits, not just for our financial districts in the City, the Bund and Financial Street, but for our businesses and people across both nations.
I’m incredibly proud of what our two countries have achieved together so far, and I’m excited to build on our growing partnership to build economies of the future.
Minister for Investment, Mark Garnier said:
The Belt and Road Initiative is an ambitious initiative that will increase opportunities for global trade and it’s only right we support British businesses in making the most of this.
We’re putting export finance at the heart of trade promotion by making up to £25 billion available for projects in these markets. The capacity will ensure that no viable company fails for a lack of funding and means they can take advantage of growing economies and secure deals that will boost the UK’s exports and safeguard jobs at home.
Around £1.4 billion worth of commercial deals, an agreement to accelerate the final preparations for the London-Shanghai Stock Connect initiative and new commitments to develop work on the Mutual Recognition of Funds and a bond connect, have been announced as part of the 9th UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) held in Beijing this weekend. And in a boost to UK businesses operating along the Belt and Road in Asia, up to £25 billion in financial support – such as loan guarantees – has also been announced.
The wide-ranging dialogue further strengthened the Golden Era in UK-China relations, successfully boosting cooperation across the two countries’ strategic partnership.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Philip Hammond said:
These successful talks are an example of Global Britain at its best, demonstrating that we can work with our friends and partners across the world to support jobs, businesses and prosperity. This is testament to our strong and dynamic economy, and the world class talent and expertise we have to offer.
These talks show the UK is truly open for business and we look forward to continuing the Golden Era of UK-China relations.
The Economic and Financial Dialogue involved a series of events over a two-day period, where agreements were reached on areas of trade and investment, deepening the financial services relationship, new partnerships on industrial strategy, and further ways in which the UK can partner on infrastructure initiatives.
These included:
Final preparations for the London-Shanghai Stock Connect initiative, which will mean investors in each country will be able to trade shares listed on the other’s stock exchange, are to be accelerated. Building on this, the first steps were also taken in establishing a bond connect, with a view to opening up the bond market to mutual trading. There was also an agreement to progress Mutual Recognition of Funds work with the launch of a feasibility study, opening up China to the UK’s unrivaled asset management sector. The UK and China also engaged in deeper regulatory cooperation, including on financial stability, through the first meeting of the PBOC-Bank of England Symposium.
The EFD set out further ways in which the UK, and specifically London as a global financial centre, can partner on the Belt and Road Initiative. To showcase the expertise the UK has to offer, Douglas Flint, former Chairman of HSBC Group, was announced as the Chancellor’s City Envoy to the BRI, and a City Expert Board will be established to bring together infrastructure financing, professional and emerging market expertise. Together these initiatives will facilitate further cooperation with China and create commercial opportunities for UK firms. In support of this Standard Chartered Bank also announced its support for the BRI by committing to facilitate financing to the value of at least $20 billion by 2020.
UK Export Finance affirmed up to £25 billion capacity to support new business in BRI countries in Asia, in a boost to UK businesses selling their goods and services. The UK and China also agreed to identify specific BRI projects to act as pathfinders for UK and Chinese collaboration, and to conduct research on mechanisms to support private sector financing of infrastructure development across the BRI. China recognises the UK’s world leading reputation in this area and greater partnership will increase global investment in UK infrastructure firms and enable them to export this expertise globally.
Showing that the UK is open for business, the EFD saw a range of commercial announcements, worth around £1.4 billion. These include an agreement between Smiths Interconnect and Huafeng to establish a new joint venture working on products for High Speed Rail and commercial aviation; the establishment of UK fintech firm World First’s office and wholly foreign owned enterprise in Shanghai; and a partnership agreement between Tsinghua X-lab and Future Planet Capital to invest in innovative companies. The EFD also made substantial progress on issues which could unlock billions of pounds worth of agreements in the future. And in order to boost trade and investment and lay the foundations for a deeper future trading relationship ahead of the UK leaving the EU, the inaugural meeting of the new UK-China Trade Working Group took place. Progress was also made on implementing a reduction in tariffs on a range of food, retail and pharmaceutical goods, and the talks also built on previous EFDs in taking steps towards China lifting its ban on UK beef exports, put in place following the BSE crisis of the 90s.
The UK and China discussed opportunities to collaborate on the UK’s new Industrial Strategy and welcomed the launch of a new UK China Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy. The UK are world leaders in innovative technologies like electric vehicles, so to build on the next generation electric vehicle package set out by the Chancellor at Budget and ensure Britain remains at the front of the pack in this market, a new collaboration was launched on zero carbon transport and Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEVs). This includes cooperation on the £400 million Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund announced at the recent Autumn Budget. Discussions were also held with China’s most influential electric vehicles think tank, EV100, about collaborating more closely with Chinese automotive leaders to make it easier for UK and Chinese businesses to work together, boosting investment and creating more jobs.
The accompanying Energy Dialogue with China’s National Energy Administration saw the signing of an Action Plan to further cooperation between the UK and China on clean energy. Agreements were made between UK and Chinese businesses and research organisations to further develop renewable energy cooperation. The UK’s offshore Renewable Catapult will be linking up with TusPark Newcastle and TusWind to further offshore wind technology development between the UK and China, and UK-based engineering consultancy Mott Macdonald and the China Energy Engineering Corporation to work together in third countries on renewable energy projects.
The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Jones said:
Britain is an innovative hub, home to skills and services that are in high demand around the world. We are world leaders in electric vehicle technology and working with China will enable us to export this expertise globally.
Deepening our trade and investment links will help create an UK economy fit for the future by generating new jobs and modern skills across the country.
The Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Barclay said:
The relationship between the UK and China has brought real benefits, not just for our financial districts in the City, the Bund and Financial Street, but for our businesses and people across both nations.
I’m incredibly proud of what our two countries have achieved together so far, and I’m excited to build on our growing partnership to build economies of the future.
Minister for Investment, Mark Garnier said:
The Belt and Road Initiative is an ambitious initiative that will increase opportunities for global trade and it’s only right we support British businesses in making the most of this.
We’re putting export finance at the heart of trade promotion by making up to £25 billion available for projects in these markets. The capacity will ensure that no viable company fails for a lack of funding and means they can take advantage of growing economies and secure deals that will boost the UK’s exports and safeguard jobs at home.