Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps, other than making an assessment of the potential merits of implementing coordinated sanctions with allies, his Department is taking to hold the Chinese authorities to account for the detainment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang region of China.

The UK has taken a leading international role in holding China to account for its gross human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and will continue to do so. Most recently, on 6 October, the UK and 38 other countries joined a statement at the UN Third Committee in New York expressing deep concern at the situation in Xinjiang, including the mass detention of Uyghurs in political re-education camps. This growing caucus reflects UK diplomatic leadership in raising the issue with a wide range of partners. On 28 July, the Foreign Secretary raised our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi.