Recommendation 4

HM Government Acknowledged

The Government has repeatedly called out the gross violations of human rights occurring in Xinjiang, and in response has led international efforts to hold China to account. In October 2019, the UK led the first formal joint statement on Xinjiang at the UN, which was supported by 23 countries. We have subsequently used our global diplomatic network to incrementally increase the pressure on China to change its behaviour in Xinjiang. This has included a further joint statement led by the UK in June 2020, in addition to statements led by Germany, Canada and France in October 2020, June 2021 and October 2021 respectively. The most recent statement was supported by 43 countries. Our statements have called on China to end the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, and expressed particular concern about forced labour, the sterilisation of women, and separation of children from their parents. We will continue to reiterate these messages in line with recommendation 2. We have also repeatedly called on China to grant urgent and unfettered access to Xinjiang for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights or another independent fact-finding body. In October 2021, a global UK diplomatic effort helped to secure the support of 43 countries for a joint statement at the UN that called on China to allow ‘immediate, meaningful and unfettered access to Xinjiang for independent observers’, including the High Commissioner for Human Rights. In May, under our G7 Presidency, G7 Foreign Ministers also called on China to grant such access. The former Foreign Secretary also raised this issue personally on numerous occasions, including in a telephone call with his Chinese counterpart on 27 May, and in his address to the UN Human Rights Council on 22 February. The former Minister for Asia also reiterated this point during his introductory meeting with the new Chinese Ambassador to the UK on 8 September. We will continue to work with our international partners to increase the pressure on China to allow such access, and we accept recommendation 3. We also agree that it is important for relevant UN bodies and observers to consider the considerable volume of evidence that has emerged, including from satellite imagery, reporting by NGOs, research reports—including those funded by the UK—and the Chinese authorities’ own documents. We therefore welcome plans announced by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in September to finalise and make public an assessment of the available information by the end of the year.