A judge working for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) who ruled against the UK over the Chagos Islands is a former Chinese Government official.

       Xue Hanqin backed a majority verdict at the ICJ in 2019, calling for Britain to surrender the islands to Mauritius “as rapidly as possible”.

       The non-binding legal ruling pressured the UK government to begin negotiations with Mauritius, despite the islands having never been under their control.

       The archipelago is home to a joint US-UK military base, a strategically important military asset in the Indian Ocean.

       The British government reached a deal to surrender the British Indian Ocean Territory in October.

       READ MORE: UK taxpayers spent ￡1.3m on diversity scheme in Mauritius

       However, critics have argued that closing the military base on Diego Garcia island would strengthen Chinese influence in the region and allow Beijing to spy on Western operations.

       Ms Xue is a former Chinese Communist Party official who served as director general of the department of treaty and law in China’s foreign ministry.

       She became China’s ambassador to the Netherlands and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

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       In its written submission to the ICJ on Chagos, China said it supported the “decolonisation” of the territory.

       Tory MP Mark Francios, the shadow armed forces minister, said he was concerned by Xue's background as a Chinese official.

       “For months, we have been warning about growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific, so this news is a further source of concern,” he told The Telegraph.

       He accused the Labour Government of being obsessed with international law, "even advisory judgements, which are not legally binding in any event."

       Despite its non-binding status, British government lawyers feared the ruling still carried legal risk for the UK.

       Xue was also one of only two judges who voted against an ICJ ruling in 2022 calling on Russia to suspend its “special military operation” in Ukraine.

       The Russian judge Kirill Gevorgian joined her in opposing the ruling.