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The Minister for Asia (Nigel Adams)
I commend my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin (Mark Pritchard) on securing this important debate and on his excellent, well-informed speech. I thank hon. Members for their contributions, which included some powerful and well-informed interventions from my hon. Friends the Members for Henley (John Howell), for Wycombe (Mr Baker) and for Broadland (Jerome Mayhew)—he brought his own personal perspective to the debate—and from the hon. Member for Poplar and Limehouse (Apsana Begum).
As hon. Members know, the UK’s relationship with China is a long-standing one; we work together on many areas, including trade and climate change. However, as we have heard in the debate today, ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang are continuing to experience significant and indiscriminate restrictions on their basic freedoms, including their freedom of religion or belief, speech and association.
The intense crackdown we see today has its roots in China’s “Strike hard against violent terrorism” campaign, which began in 2014, following a series of terrorist attacks in the region. In Xinjiang, Chinese officials seek to disrupt what China calls the “three evil forces”—separatism, extremism and terrorism. That includes restrictions on religious freedom. Chinese authorities have banned traditional, unexceptional expressions of religious observation, from giving children religious names to having what is described as an abnormal beard or wearing a veil, to attending a mosque under the age of 18—bans that we in the UK find deplorable. There are also credible reports to suggest that Chinese authorities use a highly sophisticated central database to flag individuals deemed as suspicious. Such individuals, if identified, are likely to be detained.
Our diplomats most recently visited Xinjiang in May and November 2019. Their reports, much like some of the experiences of hon. Members here, paint a bleak picture of the oppression suffered by millions of Uighurs and other minorities. Their observations supported much of the recent open-source reporting on the region, reports by non-governmental organisations and leaked documents from the Chinese Government.
We have also seen credible evidence to suggest that Uighurs are being used as a source of forced labour in Xinjiang and across China, and that if individuals refuse to participate, they and their families are threatened with extra-judicial detention.
Mark Pritchard
I am sorry to put the Minister on the spot, but we are not here to play games. These are serious issues. As I am on my feet, there are currently men, women and children illegally incarcerated in China. Will he commit today that the Government, through their procurement office, will write to all the suppliers to Her Majesty’s Government that I have referenced today in this Chamber, to seek assurances that they are not using slave labour or forced labour to manufacture their goods?
Nigel Adams
Our concerns about this area and the report that my hon. Friend refers to are very well known. The research in the report, and the potential use of forced labour, gives us a better understanding of the situation. We contributed a small part of the overall funding to that research, although we did not play a part in the drafting of the report. It helps to inform us, and my hon. Friend raises a very good point.
Nigel Adams
I will move on; I do have to finish, and I hope to give my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin a couple of minutes at the end. I hope the hon. Gentleman will understand.
Our intelligence is that families are also obliged to host Chinese officials in their homes for extended periods, to demonstrate their loyalty to the Communist party. On the streets, Uighurs and other minorities are continuously watched by police, supported by extensive use of facial recognition technology and restrictions on movement.
Of all the severe restrictions, our greatest concern is that more than 1 million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities—more than 10% of the Uighur population—have been detained in internment camps. The deputy party secretary of Xinjiang stated in December that all detainees have been released from the camps. We have not seen sufficient evidence to support that statement and assess that a significant proportion remain in detention. It is unknown how long each individual is detained, what chance they have of release or whether they can appeal their detention. Clearly, detentions have split families, left children effectively orphaned and created a culture of fear.
China’s initial response to allegations of human rights abuses in Xinjiang was to deny the existence of the camps, but after a significant amount of evidence was reported and international attention increased, that position became untenable. China now describes the camps as education and training facilities. We recognise that Xinjiang is of significant geopolitical importance to China, both as an economic corridor to markets in central Asia, the middle east and Europe, and as home to large gas fields, half of China’s coal deposits and an estimated 20% of its oil reserves. However, although that may partly explain China’s strong security interests in Xinjiang, we believe, based on all available evidence, that its actions are disproportionate, systematic and counterproductive.
Innocent citizens have suffered greatly under the policies. We have been calling, via the UN, for China to close the camps, cease indiscriminate surveillance and restrictions on religion and culture, and allow UN observers unfettered access to the region. China is contravening its own constitutional provisions on freedom of religion and its obligations under the 1948 universal declaration of human rights. I reassure my hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin that the human rights situation in Xinjiang remains a priority for me, the Foreign Secretary and the UK Government as a whole. We strongly believe that everyone, everywhere, should enjoy equal rights and protection under the law.
My hon. Friend the Member for The Wrekin and the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant) made the sensible point that China’s actions could be counter- productive in terms of the potential for being a breeding ground for terrorism. That argument is difficult to disagree with. My hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Richard Graham), who knows the region incredibly well, made a similar point. China has some genuine terrorism concerns, but as I said, its actions are indiscriminate and disproportionate, and will be counter- productive in the long term.
My hon. Friend the Member for Congleton (Fiona Bruce) talked about the rights of children. I share her deep concern about the impact of the policies on children in particular. She also mentioned sanctions, as many Members did, including the hon. Member for Rhondda. The Foreign Secretary has announced that the UK will establish a global human rights sanctions regime under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018. We will lay secondary legislation to establish that regime in the coming months.
Nigel Adams
It would be inappropriate to comment on potential designations before the regulations come into force.
Nigel Adams
The reality is that, now we have left the EU, designing the first piece of UK autonomous sanctions legislation will be complex, and it is worth taking the time to get it right. The hon. Member will have to have some patience, but the matter is very much on our radar and we will do it.
Nigel Adams
That is absolutely right. Members have my commitment that we will introduce our own sanctions regime, but we have to put the secondary legislation in place to ensure that we get it right.
The hon. Members for St Helens South and Whiston (Ms Rimmer), for Bolton South East (Yasmin Qureshi) and for Manchester, Gorton (Afzal Khan) mentioned the allegations of organ harvesting. We have been in touch with the World Health Organisation on that issue. We note the publication of the findings of the report on forced organ harvesting from prisoners of conscience in China. We are reading that report very carefully and considering it alongside all possible evidence. Our position is quite simple: if this is true, the practice of systematic state-sponsored organ harvesting would be truly horrifying.
The hon. Member for Bolton South East asked what we are doing to ensure that people are released. I assure her that all our diplomatic activity is focused on urging China to end the policy, including closing the camps and releasing those detained. My hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Alicia Kearns) asked about international engagement. I assure her that lots of our engagement includes Muslim-majority countries, which is crucial. She rightly talked about the Human Rights Council action, including a resolution. I hope to set out the extensive UK activity and leadership in the area.
We have repeatedly raised Xinjiang in our national statements, and most recently in the current human rights session yesterday. The Opposition spokesman, the hon. Member for Manchester, Gorton, raised CCTV and the company Hikvision. He may or may not be aware that, in the last few days, the Home Secretary cancelled the invitation for Hikvision to attend a security conference in the UK. That is very important.
We condemn the actions of the Chinese authorities in Xinjiang in the strongest possible terms. China is pursuing policies that prevent people in Xinjiang from lawfully practising their rights to freedom of religion or belief, speech and association. More than a million Uighurs and other ethnic minorities have been extra-judicially detained. We continue to urge China to end those policies. It is in the interest of China’s international reputation and the long-term stability of Xinjiang that China honours its commitments to its own constitutional provisions on freedom of religion or belief and the universal declaration of human rights. I assure all Members that we will continue to urge the Chinese Government to change course and to do so.