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China-EU relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Xinjiang chief postpones European tour amid pushback over human rights

  • Erkin Tuniyaz was expected in Brussels next week to meet the EU’s China and human rights specialists
  • The Xinjiang Communist Party deputy secretary is accused of facilitating widespread oppression in the region

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A controversial visit to European Union capitals by Erkin Tuniyaz, the Communist Party deputy secretary in Xinjiang, has been postponed, Brussels has confirmed.
Finbarr Berminghamin Brussels
A controversial visit to European capitals by the head of the western Chinese region of Xinjiang has been postponed, the host governments have confirmed.
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Erkin Tuniyaz was expected in London this week and Brussels next week, where he was set to meet the European Union’s China and human rights specialists.

A trip to Paris was also scheduled. News of all three visits was met with vigorous protests by lawmakers and human rights campaigners.

Tuniyaz, the Communist Party deputy secretary in Xinjiang and chairman of the Xinjiang regional government, has been accused of facilitating a widespread campaign of oppression against Uygurs and other ethnic Muslims in Xinjiang.

However, an EU spokeswoman said “we were informed by the Chinese mission that the visit has been postponed”.

The EU had viewed the visit “as an opportunity to convey directly the EU’s long-standing concerns on the human rights situation in Xinjiang”.
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The Chinese mission to the EU told the Post that “due to scheduling reasons”, a briefing Tuniyaz was set to hold with media and scholars in Brussels was “postponed”.

A spokesperson for the British foreign office said they understood the governor “has cancelled his visit to the UK” and that the UK government would “continue to use all opportunities to take action against China’s unacceptable human rights abuses in Xinjiang”.

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