Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan will attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday, the country’s foreign ministry has confirmed.
Mr Wang will attend as a special representative of President Xi Jinping, at the invitation of the UK government, said the ministry on Saturday.
Earlier, news reports had quoted diplomatic sources saying Mr Wang was expected to attend. This led several UK MPs and peers to write to the foreign secretary expressing their concerns.
Senior Tory MPs Tim Loughton and Sir Iain Duncan Smith were among those who said it was “extraordinary” that the “architects” of genocide against the Uyghur minority had been invited.
Last year, the House of Commons declared that a genocide was taking place against the Uyghurs in north-west China, with more than a million people estimated to have been detained at camps in the region of Xinjiang.
China has denied the allegations, claiming the camps are “re-education” facilities used to combat terrorism.