The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee has written to Dominic Raab, urging him to take ‘formal steps towards determining whether the Chinese Government’s policies in Xinjiang constitute genocide’.
Tom Tugendhat, who is also a member of the China Research Group, has long campaigned for the Government to address the abuses that Beijing is committing against the Uyghur people in the North West of the country.
The UK Government’s response thus far has been that it is the place of a “competent court” to determine such definitions, pointing to a difficulty with proof of intent.
“Rather than wait for such a reference to be made, there is an opportunity for the UK Government to demonstrate leadership in making this happen,” the Tonbridge and Malling MP writes. “The mounting credible evidence of mass incarceration, forced sterilisation, cultural destruction and ethnic displacement means that determining the nature of these crimes, and the appropriate response, is urgent.”
He has asked for a response by 8 December.