With Xinjiang top of mind, EU lawmakers urge more hardline approach on China human rights

European Parliament members call for additional sanctions against Beijing officials implicated in alleged abuse and renewed push to ban goods from forced labour

‘We have been looking the other way for too long, despite the accumulated evidence of the serious crimes committed,’ Spanish lawmaker says

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Security personnel engaged in an apparent anti-escape or anti-riot drill at the Tekes County Detention Centre in Xinjiang in February, 2018. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:01am, 9 Jun 2022Updated: 7:07am, 9 Jun 2022

European Union lawmakers rallied around calls for a more hardline approach to confronting China on human rights issues on Wednesday, ahead of an expected move by the EU legislature to accuse Beijing of committing “crimes against humanity” in Xinjiang.

Two weeks after a leak of alleged Xinjiang police documents shed new light on Beijing’s policies in the region, legislators used a parliamentary session in Strasbourg to call for more sanctions against Chinese officials implicated in alleged rights abuses; an import ban against goods suspected of being produced with forced labour; and a broader recalibration of the EU’s economic ties with Beijing.

“We have been looking the other way for too long, despite the accumulated evidence of the serious crimes committed,” said Carles Puigdemont, a Spanish member of the European Parliament.

“It is time to act, to take measures to protect the Uygur people and to let the Chinese regime know that if it does not correct its policy, the European Union is ready to change its economic and trade relationship [with China].”

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China is accused by numerous Western governments and rights groups of a systematic crackdown on Uygurs and other Muslim ethnic minorities, including through mass internment, political indoctrination, and forced labour. Beijing denies the accusations.