Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of reports that crimes have been committed against Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Turkic Muslim minorities in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China; and what steps they are taking in response to ensure that the perpetrators of any such crimes are brought to justice.

The report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights provides new evidence of the extent of China's efforts to silence and repress Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang. It includes a broad range of evidence, including first-hand accounts from victims.

The UK has led international efforts to pressure China to change its behaviour. We have imposed sanctions, led joint statements at the UN, taken action to tackle forced labour in supply chains, funded research to expose China's actions, and consistently raised China's human rights violations at the highest levels in Beijing. Most recently, the Foreign Secretary did so in a meeting with his Chinese counterpart on 20 September.

Given the seriousness of the report's findings, on 6 October we supported formal action at the UN Human Rights Council that requested a Council Debate on the situation in Xinjiang. While this vote didn't pass, China's attempts to stifle debate and hide the truth will not succeed. We will continue to work with our partners to hold the Chinese authorities to account and continue to shine a spotlight on China's human rights violations.