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East Asia

That is why we should do that in a practical way rather than merely criticising. It is difficult when people are isolated. People criticise politicians like us, but we have had 1,000 years of democracy to try to get it right and we are still working at it. I do not mean this as a negative criticism, but there is a worry that if we are to have that dialogue, there has to be the capacity for effective dialogue not only with the mainland Administration and those who effectively run the administration of Hong Kong, but with the general population. It is clear that the future success and stability of east Asia will have a significant impact on UK interests. It is crucial that we continue our work to enhance the relationships across the region. However China, perhaps more than any other country, is driving the dynamic pace of change in east Asia and its economic and political re-emergence on the world stage is dramatically changing the dynamics of international, economic and political relationships. I stress the need to ensure that aid to Africa is spent in a co-ordinated way in line with the Gleneagles objectives and co-operation in that area has been agreed to. I was also able to take forward preparations for other work, which I will now come to in response to the debate that has been so eloquent and well put by hon. Members. I will not do so in a partisan political way, although the hon. Member for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown) made my hair stand up on a number of occasions. I hope that when I respond he will see that some of his comments and perceptions about our activities are rather misplaced—that is the best way for a diplomat to put it. I shall go through the issues as I think that they were raised. I will go about a bit, but I shall try to co-ordinate it. If any hon. Member has any sense that I am going to miss something out, they should intervene. On the subject of the WTO organisations, it is vitally important that we work with China and ensure that its membership of the WTO is seen as its being a responsible member of the international community, and that we support its closer integration into the international system, including multilateral institutions. That is critical in its dialogue about opening up and transparency in trade. That applies not only to Doha, but in terms of gaining an effective ability for the rest of the trading world to work closely with a trading system where China’s investment and trade strategies are recognisable for their multilateral approach to countries and regions where it wants to trade significantly and effectively and where it wants to make investments, whether in economic or social structures or in support and opportunities for energy security. That is important. We need regularly to raise at our UK-China summits and discuss with our EU partners the framework of China’s role and how we work with China and its WTO obligations. We were disappointed by the dispute on Chinese auto-parts that took place last year between China, the EU and five other members of the WTO—Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico and the US. That dispute has failed to be resolved and with UK support the EU has launched a formal request to the WTO to establish a dispute settlement panel to investigate the Chinese measures. We believe that those measures are in breach of China’s WTO commitments, and the dispute settlement panel is therefore an appropriate forum for the dispute to be resolved. I hope that that answers one of the points made by the hon. Member for Cotswold. It is not merely a matter of getting China to join. With a right comes responsibility, and although we support China against unfair measures from the EU or against anti-dumping measures, we are consistent that when a measure clearly puts up a trade barrier and is unacceptable we are prepared to support international action under WTO rules. That is also true in terms of other trade disputes.