Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if the Government will place sanctions on Chen Quanguo, the highest ranking Chinese Communist Party Official in Xinjiang.

On 22 March, the Foreign Secretary announced that the UK has imposed, under the UK's Global Human Rights sanctions regime, asset freezes and travel bans against four Chinese government officials responsible for the violations that have taken place and persist against the Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang. Alongside those individuals, the UK also designated the Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, the organisation responsible for enforcing the repressive security policies across many areas of Xinjiang. By acting with 30 other countries on an agreed set of designations we increased the reach and impact of these measures and sent the clearest possible signal of the international community's serious concern and collective willingness to act. The FCDO will keep all evidence and potential listings under close review.