· Foreign
Secretary announces first UK sanctions
against Chinese Government officials.
· Sanctions target
four senior officials and the Public Security Bureau of the
Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps.
· New measures
complement action by the European Union,
Canada and the United States.
The Foreign Secretary
Dominic Raab has announced sanctions against the
perpetrators of gross human rights violations taking place
against Uyghurs and other minorities in Xinjiang,
in a move coordinated by the international
community.
The UK will, for the first
time, impose asset freezes and travel bans against four Chinese
government officials, as well as a Xinjiang
security body, under the UK's Global Human Rights sanctions
regime for systemic violations against Uyghurs and other
minorities.
The measures come as
part of intensive diplomacy by the UK, United
States, Canada and European Union to deliver complementary action
on Xinjiang. It follows the trend of a growing number of
countries holding China to account for its human rights record,
with 39 countries signing a joint statement at the UN.
Acting together
sends the clearest possible signal that the international
community is united in its condemnation of China's human rights
violations in Xinjiang and the need for Beijing to end its
discriminatory and oppressive practices in the region.
Foreign Secretary
Dominic Raab
said:
"The
evidence of widespread human rights abuses in Xinjiang cannot be
ignored - including mass detention and surveillance, reports of
torture and forced sterilisation.
"Working with our international partners we
are imposing targeted sanctions to hold those responsible to
account."
The UK sanctions will be
immediately imposed against:
1. The
Public Security Bureau of the Xinjiang Production and
Construction Corps - a state run organisation responsible for security and policing in
areas administered by the XPCC.
2. Zhu
Hailun,
Former Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of
the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
3. Wang
Junzheng,
Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Xinjiang Uyghur
Autonomous Region and previously Secretary of the Political and
Legal Affairs Committee of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous
Region.
4. Wang
Mingshan,
Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee of the
Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and former Director of the
Public Security Department of XUAR.
5. Chen
Mingguo,
Vice Chairman of the Government of the XUAR, and Director of the
XUAR Public Security Department.
