British MPs call for government to take further measures against China over treatment of Uygurs

Name: Electric carmaker Tesla under fire for opening Xinjiang showroom
Uploaded: 2022-01-20T17:55:33.000Z
Duration: 1 min 57 s
Description: Electric carmaker Tesla under fire for opening Xinjiang showroom

Backbenchers in Parliament call for additional sanctions, import blacklists to address alleged human rights abuses

Parliament declared China was committing genocide against Uygurs last year, but the government has repeatedly declined to make a direct determination

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Iain Duncan Smith, a Conservative MP, was among backbenchers in a debate in the UK Parliament on Thursday calling for the British government to do more to address alleged human rights against Uygurs in Xinjiang. Photo: EPA-EFE

Chad Brayin London

Published: 1:55am, 21 Jan 2022Updated: 6:00pm, 21 Jan 2022

A cross-party group of backbenchers has called for the British government to impose additional sanctions against Chinese officials, enact import blacklists and take other steps to address alleged human rights abuses against Uygurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

The debate in the House of Commons on Thursday was sparked by an independent tribunal’s finding in December that efforts by Beijing to lower the Uygur population in Xinjiang had constituted genocide.

“When will the government stand up and sanction those who are undertaking the genocide and have the confidence to not only back the House and select committees, but also sanctioned colleagues as well?,” said Nusrat Ghani, a Conservative MP for Wealden in southeast England.

Ghani, who organised the debate, is one of several British politicians who were sanctioned by Beijing last year.

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Thursday’s debate came as France’s parliament passed a motion calling for the French government to condemn China for “crimes against humanity and genocide”.

British MPs voted in April 2021 to declare that China was committing genocide against the Uygurs, but the vote did not compel the government to take any action.

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