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<p>We have serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang and the Chinese
Government’s deepening crackdown; including credible reports that over 1 million Uyghur
Muslims have been held in re-education camps, and reports of widespread surveillance
and restrictions targeted at ethnic minorities. Visits to Xinjiang by diplomats from
our Embassy in Beijing have corroborated much of this open source reporting.</p><p>Ministers
and senior officials have been raising our concerns directly with the Chinese authorities
for some time, and will continue to do so. At the 40<sup>th</sup> session of the UN
Human Rights Council which ran from February to March 2019, the Minister for the Commonwealth
and UN, Lord Ahmad raised our concerns about Xinjiang during his opening address (on
25 February). The UK also raised concerns about Xinjiang during our item 4 statement
on 12 March, and we co-sponsored a side event on “Protecting the fundamental freedoms
in Xinjiang” on 13 March.</p><p>I raised our concerns about Xinjiang with Vice Minister
Guo Yezhou during my visit to China on 22 July 2018. The Foreign Secretary, also raised
our concerns about the region with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang
Yi during his visit to China on 30 July 2018.</p><p>During China’s Universal Periodic
Review at the UN Human Rights Council on 6 November 2018, the UK made a statement
which described our concerns about the treatment of ethnic minorities in China, including
Uyghurs.</p><p>Following the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the Minister for the
Commonwealth and UN issued a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/universal-periodic-review-31st-session-minister-for-human-rights-statement"
target="_blank">statement</a> where he said: “I am very concerned about the human
rights situation in Xinjiang, including the re-education camps and the widespread
surveillance and restrictions targeted at ethnic minorities, particularly the Uyghurs.
The UK and many of our international partners have made clear during China’s UPR that
this is a priority issue. We recommended that China should implement Committee on
the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recommendations in Xinjiang and allow the
UN to monitor implementation.”</p>
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