China: Uyghurs

(asked on 19th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the UK's work at the UN on imposing sanctions and a range of supply-chain measures to end human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.


Answered by
Amanda Milling Portrait
Amanda Milling
Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
This question was answered on 25th January 2022

The UK remains deeply concerned by the scale and the severity of the human rights violations being perpetrated in Xinjiang. In response, the UK has led international efforts to hold China to account at the UN, imposed sanctions on senior Chinese government officials, and taken robust action in respect of UK supply chains.

Those sanctioned face travel bans and asset freezes across the US, Canada, the EU and the UK, which together make up over 1/3 of global GDP. This sends a clear message to the Chinese Government that the international community will not turn a blind eye to such serious and systematic violations of basic human rights.

The supply chains measures we have taken include new guidance for UK businesses, and announcing enhanced export controls as well as the introduction of financial penalties under the Modern Slavery Act. Taken together, these measures will help ensure that no British organisations - government or private sector, deliberately or inadvertently - are profiting from or contributing to human rights violations against the Uyghurs or other minorities.

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