Government confirms that total UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) given to China between 2014-2022 was £356.6 million. Britain is still sending more than £8 million in aid to China every year, more than a decade after the Government pledged to stop the flow. Not only is this British taxpayers’ money flowing into a country that stands accused of genocide against its own people – it is money which could have been used to support development in Commonwealth countries which pose no threat to British interests, to democracy and the rule of law.
Lord Collins of Highbury, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, has provided the following answer to your written parliamentary question (HL558):
Question by Lord Alton of Liverpool:
To ask His Majesty’s Government what is their policy in relation to the provision of development aid to entities within China; and what is the total of UK aid provided to the China in the past 10 years. (HL558)
Tabled on: 02 September 2024
Answer:
Lord Collins of Highbury:
Total UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) spend to China between 2014-2022 was £356.6 million, including FCDO ODA spend such as Chevening scholarships and British Council activity. In a Written Ministerial Statement in April 2021, the FCDO committed to cut ODA funded programmes in China by 95 per cent from the 2021-22 financial year, which it delivered. Final data for 2023 UK ODA spend will be available when the next Statistics for International Development is published on 26 September 2024.
Date and time of answer: 16 Sep 2024 at 12:52.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2024/03/21/britain-still-sends-china-more-than-8m-in-aid-a-year
