Westminster Games Week, originally set to begin on Monday, has been postponed indefinitely after sponsoring MPs Christian Wakeford and Jonathan Gullis withdrew their involvement following Guido’s story on Tencent, the Chinese tech giant slated to co-sponsor the event. Game over…
Tencent’s sponsorship immediately raised eyebrows when Guido pointed out how, back in October, 117 MPs signed a petition calling for Parliament’s pension pot to disinvest from Chinese companies accused of “being complicit in human rights violations“. The petition specifically accused Tencent of
“regularly collaborat[ing] with the Chinese state in maintaining internet censorship through the “Great Firewall” and [providing] the Government with surveillance patents for software which has been put to use against the Uyghurs.”
The idea that, just 5 months later, Tencent banners would be hoisted in Parliament in front of these same MPs was obviously ridiculous…
Ukie, the UK gaming trade body that organised Westminster Games Week, quietly announced it had pulled the plug on their website today:
“Westminster Games Week, which was due to take place on Monday 28th March to Wednesday 30th March, has been postponed. We will be confirming new dates for the event shortly. We apologise for the inconvenience but we look forward to seeing our partners and attendees in Westminster later this year.”
Iain Duncan Smith, co-chair of the International Interparliamentary Alliance on China, tells Guido “I welcome this decision. Tencent serves the oppressive Chinese regime that is committing genocide and as such should not be welcome here in Parliament.”
Hopefully later this year Westminster Games Week won’t feature Tencent… they would have got away with it if it weren’t for pesky Guido…
