Tory MP detained and deported by China-allied nation after being sanctioned by Beijing

28 April 2024, 20:40

A Tory MP was detained and deported from a Chinese-allied nation in East Africa after he was sanctioned by Beijing.

Tim Loughton, a senior member of the Home Affairs select committee, was kicked out of the East African nation of Djibouti while on a 24-hour visit.

Mr Loughton says he was detained for more than seven hours at the airport upon his arrival before being barred from entering Djibouti and removed on the next flight.

The Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham has been hawkish on China - and was one of seven parliamentarians who were sanctioned by Beijing three years ago.

It is believed that the sanctions were because of Mr Loughton's outspokenness on the plight of Uighurs, Tibetans and Hong Kongers under Chinese rule.

In an op-ed in the Telegraph, Mr Loughton wrote: "This is just the latest example of the intimidation that the seven sanctioned British parliamentarians have suffered over the last three years.

"It comes hard on the heels of course of the recent revelation that three years ago our parliamentary email accounts were hacked and Westminster’s security compromised by the malign Chinese state.

"It pales into insignificance of course compared with the violence, torture and murder suffered over many decades by millions of Tibetans, Uighurs, Hong Kongers and others we stand up for in our Western democratic institutions."

Djibouti is the smallest nation in Africa and is a major beneficiary of China's Belt and Road Initiative.

China has financed a new stadium, hospital and a $1billion space-port in the nation - and now holds $1.4billion of Djibouti's debt.

This figure means that China has outsized influence over the nation.