Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith is among MPs who have been sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for speaking out against the treatment of people in Xinjiang
Britain must not stop its criticism of China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims to pave the way for a trade deal, the Foreign Secretary has been warned.
Contrary to their bullish stance on Beijing’s conduct in the Xinjiang region in opposition – Labour seem to be rowing back on calling it ‘genocide’.
Seven current and former parliamentarians sanctioned by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) – including former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith, ex minister Neil O’Brien and Tom Tugendhat – have challenged David Lammy to reject any deal that would see penalties lifted on both British MPs and those persecuting the Uyghurs.
China has been accused by the United Nations of subjecting the Uyghur minority to ‘arbitrary and discriminatory detention’. Human rights groups say Beijing also carries out the use of forced Labour in Xinjiang.
In a letter to the Foreign Secretary, first seen by The Spectator, the MPs wrote: ‘Each of us would rather remain unjustly sanctioned by the CCP than to insult the suffering of the Uyghur community by comparing the genocidal atrocities they have endured with what has happened to us.
Such a tit-for-tat exchange would show Beijing that they can evade accountability by imposing entirely unjust penalties upon foreign lawmakers. We must not do it.’
The letter also notes how Labour ‘stood so strongly with the Uyghur community in opposition’ and urges them to ‘make clear to the Uyghur community that the many lives destroyed in Xinjiang mean something’.
There are fears from some MPs that ministers will ‘go soft’ on China to boost economic growth at the expense of pushing Beijing on human rights.
This week Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the Government is ‘open’ to reviving the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission – set up to boost bilateral trade and investment after it was frozen by the previous Government.
The Foreign Secretary did not directly address his concerns, but a Government spokesman said last night: ‘There is no truth to the discussions regarding a potential deal to lift sanctions on Chinese officials.
‘China’s sanctions, including against parliamentarians, are completely unwarranted and unacceptable, and are totally incomparable to the sanctions announced by the UK in 2021, which were based on compelling and widespread evidence of serious and systematic human rights violations in Xinjiang.
‘The Foreign Secretary has called on China to lift its sanctions on UK parliamentarians at every meeting with his counterpart, along with raising the UK’s serious human rights concerns, including in Xinjiang.’
Ex-minister Mr O’Brien challenged Mr Lammy on his previous assertions that there was ‘clear and compelling evidence’ of a genocide in Xinjiang.
Mr Lammy said: ‘It must always be a matter for the International Criminal Court to make a determination of “genocide”, not for national government.’
