The United Kingdom’s foreign secretary Dominic Raab said Sunday it was clear the Uyghur minority in China had suffered abuses of their human rights.
He also hinted he may suspend the UK’s extradition arrangements with Hong Kong over China’s moves against the city.
“It is clear that there are gross, egregious human rights abuses going on, which is why in Geneva at the UN we raised this with 27 partners to call out the government of China for its human rights abuses of the Uighurs, also of Hong Kong”, Raab said.
Beijing’s ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming said in response that most Uyghurs were living happily and that ethnic minorities in China were treated as equals.
“If the UK goes that far to impose sanctions on any individuals in China, China will certainly make a resolute response to it. You have seen what happened between China [and] the United States. I do not want to see this tit-for-tat between China-US happen in China-UK relations”, Liu said.
He added that Britain “should have its own independent foreign policy, rather than dance to the tune of the Americans like what happened to Huawei”.
Last week, the British government reversed its decision on Huawei, saying it would bar telecom companies from purchasing new equipment made by the tech giant. It also gave them until 2027 to remove its technology from their 5G networks.
China accused Britain of colluding with Washington to “discriminate, suppress and exclude Chinese companies”.
