Implementing the Integrated Review: Tilt to the Indo-Pacific

Foreign Affairs Committee Closed Inquiry
Opened: 22 Jul 2021 Closed: 29 May 2024 Parliament page
This inquiry will explore the questions raised by the ‘Tilt to the Indo-Pacific’ announced in the Integrated Review. By answering country specific and broader regional questions, the inquiry will identify the main opportunities and challenges for the UK’s realignment to the Indo-Pacific region and deliver recommendations for maximising its influence … Read more
32 Recommendations
35 Conclusions
1 Report
7 Oral sessions
4 Letters
7 Events
Activity timeline 20 events
22 Mar
2024
Report published
30 Aug
2023
Report published
19 Jul
2023
Correspondence
12 Jun
2023
Oral evidence
12 Jun
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Wilson Room, Portcullis House
10 Jan
2023
Oral evidence
10 Jan
2023
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · The Grimond Room, Portcullis House
22 Nov
2022
Oral evidence
22 Nov
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
5 Jul
2022
Oral evidence
5 Jul
2022
Formal meeting (oral evidence session) · Room 8, Palace of Westminster
16 Jun
2022
Correspondence
Oral evidence sessions 7 sessions
12 Jun 2023
View on parliament.uk
Foreign Affairs Committee
Rt Hon James Cleverly · Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office Sir Philip Barton KCMG OBE · Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
10 Jan 2023
View on parliament.uk
Foreign Affairs Committee
Aman Hingorani · Supreme Court of India Asoke Mukerji Garima Mohan · The German Marshall Fund of the United States Mosharraf Zaidi · Tabadlab Sir Dominic Asquith KCMG Walter Ladwig III · King's College London
22 Nov 2022
View on parliament.uk
Foreign Affairs Committee
Aaron Connelly · International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Ben Bland · Chatham House Gregory Poling · Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Washington, D.C. Jurgen Haacke · London School of Economics (LSE) Patrick Abbot · NIRAS Development Consulting Shafiah Muhibat · Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Jakarta
5 Jul 2022
View on parliament.uk
Foreign Affairs Committee
Bill Emmott · The Economist Dr Alessio Patalano · Kings College London Dr Jamie Collier · Mandiant Mihoko Matsubara · NTT Corporation Robert Ward · International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)
16 Nov 2021
View on parliament.uk
Foreign Affairs Committee
Dr Alessio Patalano · Kings College London Jason Hsu Michael Reilly · Global Taiwan Institute
26 Oct 2021
View on parliament.uk
Foreign Affairs Committee
Dr Jack Holland · University of Leeds Dr Sidharth Kaushal · Royal United Services Institute (RUSI)
26 Oct 2021
View on parliament.uk
Foreign Affairs Committee
Professor Rory Medcalf · Crawford School of Public Policy
Title HC No. Published Items Response
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: the Integrated Review and the … HC 172 30 Aug 2023 67 Responded
Recommendations & Conclusions
16 results
Clear
3 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Avoid prioritising Indo-Pacific engagement at the expense of commitments in the Middle East.
While we support a stronger foreign policy focus on the Indo-Pacific region, it should not be achieved at the expense of regions where we have historic and pressing commitments, in particular the Middle East.
Government Response
The government agrees, stating the Integrated Review Refresh already clearly identifies the Middle East as a geographic priority integral to UK interests, confirming existing policy aligns with the committee's view.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
5 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Supporting continued prioritisation of Indo-Pacific relationships, trade, and investment for mutual economic benefit.
We support the continued prioritisation of the UK’s relationship with Indo-Pacific countries and all efforts to expand trade and investment links with one of the fastest growing regions of the world, which will benefit the economies of the UK and … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's support and details specific actions, including signing the CPTPP Accession Protocol, pursuing further FTAs, increasing inward investment, and tackling market access barriers in the Indo-Pacific region.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
8 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Sustain Indo-Pacific policy initiatives consistently over time and communicate clearly to all partners.
We welcome the acceptance in the Refresh of our recommendation that the Government work away from the word “tilt” to describe its policy towards the Indo-Pacific while continuing to prioritise the region. We also welcome the list of additional actions … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees the Indo-Pacific is a long-term policy and commits to increasing strategic communications resources in the region to ensure sustained communication of its goals and intentions, directly addressing the committee's recommendation.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
9 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Doubling funding for China capabilities welcomed, but specific implementation details are missing.
[In the Refresh the Government states that it will double funding to build China capabilities across government to better understand China and allow the UK to engage confidently where it is in our interests to do so.] This is a … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's observation and provides extensive detail on the China Capability Programme, outlining its curriculum, training, international events, and cross-government Mandarin language offer.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
19 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Proactively challenge and communicate unacceptability of PRC attacks on Hong Kong dissidents.
The Government must recognise repeated attacks on Hong Kong dissidents as part of wider PRC policy of repression, and proactively challenge this behaviour and communicate the unacceptability of such a policy directly with representatives of the PRC.
Government Response
The government agrees that transnational repression on UK soil is unacceptable, affirming its zero-tolerance approach and commitment to protecting individuals. It states that it regularly communicates its expectations directly to concerned countries, including regarding Hong Kong activists.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
22 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Announce a clear zero-tolerance policy for transnational repression and expel offending foreign diplomats.
The Government should have had a policy of zero tolerance of transnational repression. It is unacceptable that this has not been the position up to now. It should now announce a clear policy of zero tolerance of transnational repression and … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees on the unacceptability of transnational repression, affirms its zero-tolerance approach, and commits to taking all necessary action to protect individuals on UK shores, communicating expectations to foreign powers.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
25 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Create a strategic dependency risk assessment for CNI technologies to mitigate China reliance.
The Government recognises the threat that the Chinese Communist Party could use economic coercion to influence UK decision making by targeting strategically critical sectors. The Government has not taken adequate action to tackle this threat. It must work to identify … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees on the need to build resilience against China's economic coercion, confirming it is identifying dependencies in critical sectors, taking action to mitigate risks through diversification, and developing the Critical National Infrastructure Resilience Strategy.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
37 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Rectify Government's failure to sanction companies for supply chain human rights abuses.
The Government has as yet failed to sanction any companies for human rights abuses within their supply chains, demonstrating a lack of resolve towards preventing Uyghur forced labour products from flooding the UK. The Government should rectify this.
Government Response
The government agrees it is unacceptable for states to violate human rights unsanctioned, and states the UK already takes robust action against human rights abuses in Xinjiang, including export controls, business guidance, and Magnitsky-style sanctions against Chinese officials and entities.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
38 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Denounce human rights abuses by autocracies and coordinate UNSC action to end them.
The Government must not be silent on human rights abuses, including state hostage- taking, by autocracies like the PRC and should use its status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to denounce such abuses and coordinate action … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees to the recommendation and states it remains committed to using its UN Security Council seat to denounce human rights abuses, work with international partners, and make its position on human rights clear, citing a recent joint statement at the UN Human Rights Council.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
40 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Government's potential to pursue capacity-building programmes through Commonwealth organisations.
The Government could also seek to pursue programmes such as those suggested above [in the Capacity building chapter] through unifying organisations such as the Commonwealth grouping, and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. (Paragraph 125) Freeing up movement Read more
Government Response
The government partially agrees, explaining that the FCDO already operates a flexible language learning system aiming for 80% of speaker slots to be filled by C1/C2 language speakers, and develops language capability through existing operational and developmental training.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
43 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Vital to pursue multilateral and bilateral links with Southeast Asian countries.
It is vital to pursue links with Southeast Asian countries on both multilateral and bilateral tracks, respecting different value-systems and cultures.
Government Response
The government agrees with the committee's conclusion on the vital importance of pursuing links with Southeast Asian countries multilaterally and bilaterally, highlighting its established relationship with ASEAN and individual member states.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
44 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Initiate Free Trade Agreement negotiations with ASEAN and strengthen bilateral relationships with member countries.
We recommend that as well as taking full advantage of the UK’s recently acquired status as a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN, the UK should begin negotiations for an FTA with ASEAN, and concentrate equally on building bilateral relationships with ASEAN … Read more
Government Response
The government agrees, outlining how it is already leveraging its ASEAN Dialogue Partner status through a new Plan of Action, pursuing FTAs with Indonesia and India, and actively building bilateral relationships with ASEAN members through partnerships in areas like energy transition, maritime security, finance, and technology.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
45 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Objective to sign wide-ranging agreements and upgrade strategic partnerships with ASEAN members.
A proximate objective should be the signing of wide-ranging agreements, like those the UK has with Malaysia and Indonesia, with other ASEAN member countries as appropriate, and where possible upgrading existing strategic partnership agreements to Economic and Financial Dialogues. Read more
Government Response
The government agrees on the importance of deepening engagement and signing wide-ranging agreements, noting existing strategic partnerships with Malaysia and Indonesia, a Digital Economy Agreement with Singapore, ongoing FTA negotiations with Indonesia, and an upgrade to the FTA with Korea.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
59 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Negotiate expanded cooperation agreement with Japan for English and Japanese language teaching
The UK should negotiate with Japan an agreement on expanded cooperation on the teaching of English in Japan and Japanese in the UK. (Paragraph 200) India
Government Response
The government agrees with the recommendation, noting that through the Hiroshima Accord, the UK and Japan have already agreed to re-vitalize people-to-people exchanges, including those focused on Japanese and English languages.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
65 Conclusion Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
UK approach to Indonesia lacks sufficient diplomatic capacity and political willingness.
The UK’s approach to Indonesia should be underpinned by sufficient diplomatic capacity and greater political willingness than it is currently perceived to have. (Paragraph 216) Pacific Islands
Government Response
The government agrees with the conclusion, affirming it has already increased diplomatic capacity in Indonesia, expanded ministerial engagement, and driven progress on the UK-Indonesia Roadmap, including a 30% trade increase and new cooperation agreements.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
67 Recommendation Accepted
Eighth Report - Tilting horizons: …
Explain government support for efforts to end violence against women and girls in Pacific Islands.
The Government should explain if, and, if so, how it is supporting the Pacific Partnership and other efforts to end violence against women and girls (VAWG) in the Pacific Islands. (Paragraph 256) 74 Tilting horizons: the Integrated Review and the … Read more
Government Response
The government agreed to explain and confirmed its ongoing support for efforts to end violence against women and girls in the Pacific Islands, detailing existing contributions to UN Women and the UN Trust Fund.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
View details
Government Response AI assessment · 67 of 32 classified
Accepted 16
Accepted in Part 12
Acknowledged 10
Deferred 20
Not Addressed 3
Rejected 6
Total 32 recs + 35 conclusions
Correspondence 4 letters
19 Jul 2023 Correspondence from the Foreign Secretary following up on the FAC oral evidence session on 12 June - Indo-Pacific Tilt, dated 13/07/2023
Parliament page
16 Jun 2022 Correspondence with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care relating to Taiwan, dated 26/05/2022 and 11/05/2022
Parliament page
19 May 2022 From committee Letter to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care relating to Taiwan, dated 11/05/2022
Parliament page
19 May 2022 From committee Letter to the Director General of the World Health Organization relating to Taiwan, dated 10/05/2022
Parliament page