China: Surveillance

(asked on 24th September 2019) - View Source

Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of which risk factors can cause a person to receive a (a) yellow and (b) red designation under the mass surveillance and suspect profiling system of the Chinese Government in Xinjiang.


Answered by
Heather Wheeler Portrait
Heather Wheeler
This question was answered on 1st October 2019

We follow the situation in Xinjiang closely and Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials regularly travel to the region to attempt to verify reports about the restrictions targeted at specific ethnic groups; they most recently visited in May 2019. We are not aware of individuals receiving 'yellow' or 'red' designations in Xinjiang and we have limited insight into the Chinese government's risk assessment system. However, we have serious concerns about the human rights situation in the region where the measures being taken are disproportionate and indiscriminate. We are aware of credible reports of widespread surveillance, ethnic and religious profiling, and restrictions on the ability to practice religion freely.

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