Labour MP refuses to condemn human rights abuses in China

Ex shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon repeatedly refused to condemn human rights abuses by the Chinese government during a discussion on LBC Radio yesterday evening.

The staunch Corbynite went head to head with Conservative MP Tim Loughton, who repeatedly asked Burgon to condemn Beijing’s abuses against minorities including Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

Burgon claimed that doing so would “fuel anti-Chinese racism in our society”, and argued that there were “things the government of the United States has done” that were “profoundly” wrong.

Benedict Rogers, co-founder and deputy chairman of the Conservative Party’s human rights commission, hit back at Burgon via Twitter, writing: “My God, @RichardBurgon – you’re refusing to condemn #UyghurGenocide, destruction of #HongKong’s freedoms, #Tibet repression.

“Yes, we must totally condemn anti-Chinese racism – as I have said many times.

“But we cannot confuse criticism of #CCP with racism.”