Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the reported destruction of religious shrines and mosques in Xinjiang province in China.

We are concerned by credible reports that mosques and other religious sites have been demolished in Xinjiang, evidence of which British diplomats have seen first-hand. On 25 September at the UN Human Rights Council, we raised our deep concerns about the human rights violations in Xinjiang, including severe restrictions on culture and religion, and called on the Chinese Government to allow unfettered access to Xinjiang. On 28 July, the Foreign Secretary raised our serious concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang with his Chinese counterpart, Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi.