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Chinese VP Wang Qishan attends Queen Elizabeth’s funeral

  • Wang, as special envoy of Xi Jinping, pays tribute to the late queen alongside US President Joe Biden and other foreign leaders and dignitaries
  • He also viewed the queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall on Sunday evening, days after a Chinese delegation had reportedly been barred from visiting

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Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan (centre) arrives ahead of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral at Westminster Abbey on Monday. Photo: AFP
Chinese Vice-President Wang Qishan has joined world leaders at Queen Elizabeth’s funeral at Westminster Abbey in London on Monday.
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Dressed in a black Mao suit and wearing a mask, Wang – as the special envoy of President Xi Jinping – paid tribute to the late queen alongside US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden and some 500 other foreign leaders and dignitaries.

Wang also visited the queen’s lying-in-state in the Palace of Westminster on Sunday evening, two days after Parliament officials reportedly barred a Chinese delegation from attending the vigil.

02:10

World leaders descend on London ahead of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral

World leaders descend on London ahead of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral

A request by the delegation, including China’s ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang, to view the coffin in Westminster Hall – part of the Parliamentary estate – was rejected by House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle earlier last week, Politico reported on Friday.

Zheng was barred from attending Parliament in September last year over Beijing’s sanctions on British lawmakers who had been outspoken about alleged human rights abuses in China’s Xinjiang region. Hoyle and Speaker of the House of Lords John McFall had agreed that Zheng could not enter until the sanctions were lifted.

Some British parliamentarians had written to Hoyle and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly last week, asking them to rescind the invitation to China to attend the queen’s funeral.

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That invitation was extended by the British government despite rising tensions between Beijing and London in recent years over issues such as Xinjiang and Hong Kong, while representatives of other countries – including Russia, Belarus and Myanmar – were not invited.

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