UK Alleges Rights Violations In HK, Xinjiang

Britain's foreign secretary Dominic Raab on Monday said the rights of people in Hong Kong were being "systematically violated", while denouncing ‘torture, forced labour and sterilisations’ that he said were taking place against Muslim Uighurs on an "industrial scale" in Xinjiang.

Raab, in a recorded speech to the UN Human Rights Council, said the national security law imposed by Beijing on the SAR was inhibiting freedoms, and called for free and fair legislative elections to take place.

A senior mainland official had earlier said Beijing must take the lead in reforming the electoral system here so those who “oppose China and disrupt Hong Kong” cannot take up positions of authority.

The director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, also said the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government must be staffed by staunch patriots.

Raab, meanwhile, continued to accuse Beijing of grave rights violations in Xinjiang.

"The situation in Xinjiang is beyond the pale," he told the Geneva forum where China is among the 47 member states.

"The reported abuses – which include torture, forced labour and forced sterilisation of women – are extreme and they are extensive. They are taking place on an industrial scale," he said.

Activists and UN rights experts have said that at least one million Muslims are detained in camps in the remote western region.

China denies abuses and says its camps provide vocational training and are needed to fight extremism.

Raab called for UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet or another independent expert to be given "urgent and unfettered access" to Xinjiang and said that there should be a resolution at the council to this effect.

The Biden administration has endorsed a last-minute determination by the Trump administration that China has committed genocide in Xinjiang and has said the United States must be prepared to impose costs on China.

Raab also told the rights forum the situation in Myanmar was worsening after a military coup on February 1.

"The military must step aside. Civilian leaders must be released. And the democratic wishes of the people of Myanmar must be respected," he said. (Additional reporting by Reuters)