Britain’s Foreign Secretary faces calls to confront China over Uyghur genocide

Britain’s new Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband is facing pressure to formally recognise China’s persecution of Uyghurs as genocide, as campaigners warn Labour has failed to set out a decisive strategy on Beijing’s abuses.

The Telegraph reported that Miliband is under pressure to accuse China of genocide against the Uyghur people, with campaigners saying Labour has failed to produce a "decisive strategy" to confront the oppression of Uyghurs.

The report follows an open letter to Miliband by Rahima Mahmut, a leading Uyghur campaigner and executive director of Stop Uyghur Genocide, urging the Foreign Secretary to recognise the continuing Uyghur genocide and ensure Britain does not trade away human rights for political or economic convenience.

Mahmut said on LinkedIn that Britain’s new political leadership has "an opportunity, and a responsibility to adopt a stronger, principled approach to China".

Her intervention comes as the Labour government continues to face scrutiny over its approach to Beijing, with ministers seeking to rebuild engagement with China while insisting that human rights concerns will still be raised.

In 2021, the House of Commons passed a motion declaring that Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang were suffering crimes against humanity and genocide, and called on the government to fulfil its obligations under international law to bring the abuses to an end. The motion was not binding on the government, but it marked a moment of parliamentary consensus on China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.

The British government has repeatedly declined to make its own genocide determination, maintaining that such a finding should be made by a competent court.

Labour backtracked on plans to pursue formal recognition of China’s treatment of Uyghurs as genocide after coming to power, despite previously supporting stronger action in opposition. At the time, the Foreign Office said the government stood firm on human rights in Xinjiang, where China continued to persecute and arbitrarily detain Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities.

The United Nations human rights office has also raised serious concerns over Beijing’s policies in Xinjiang.

A 2022 assessment by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights found that serious human rights violations had been committed against Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim communities, and said the extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention may constitute crimes against humanity.

China has denied allegations of genocide and human rights abuses in Xinjiang, presenting its policies as counter-terrorism and anti-extremism measures.

Uyghur groups and human rights organisations have rejected that defence, pointing to mass detention, forced labour, family separation, restrictions on religion and culture, surveillance, and coercive population control measures.