We must ‘stop looking the other way’ on Xinjiang abuses, urges Tory MP

Nus Ghani, the Conservative MP for Wealden, has urged people to “stop looking the other way” on human rights abuses against the Uyghur minority in China.

Her statement, issued via Twitter, comes after a major leak of confidential Chinese state documents which evidence its government’s involvement in the forced sterilisation of women, forced labour camps and re-education camps.

Earlier this month the Government stated that it will not “make determinations in relation to genocide” in response to the Foreign Affairs Select Committee’s recommendation to “accept Parliament’s view that Uyghurs and other ethnic minority groups in Xinjiang are suffering genocide and crimes against humanity”.

In April this year the House of Commons declared that genocide is taking place against Uyghurs and others in north-west China.

The government opposed the motion, claiming that genocide designation was a matter for “competent national and international courts after consideration of all the available evidence”, but ministers did not vote against it.