Chinese treatment of Uyghurs amounts to genocide

The Liberal Democrats have called on the Foreign Secretary to acknowledge that the Chinese government is "engineering a genocide of the Uyghur people" and to come before Parliament before the recess to set out the Government's response.

In a letter to the Foreign Secretary, the Party's Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael urged the Government to use the next round of targeted sanctions on individuals responsible for human rights abuses in China. 

The intervention follows the Chinese Ambassador to the UK denying on The Andrew Marr Show that the Uyghur people are being transported across China for forced labour in factories.

Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael said:

“The images we have seen in recent days are harrowing and inhuman. The Government has a duty to take a lead and do all we can to save the Uyghur people.

"We must be clear what is happening here. The Chinese government is engineering a genocide.

"The Foreign Secretary must come before MPs before the recess and set out what urgent actions the Government will take, both on an international level and unilaterally."