Cutting China ties will not help Hong Kong or Uygurs: Dutch leader

China has been accused of running a forced-labour programme in Xinjiang targeting Uygurs and crackdowns in Hong Kong.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he opposes reconsidering trade relations with China over its policies towards its Uygur minority and Hong Kong.

Rutte, whose country is among the European Union member states most closely intertwined with Chinese production chains, said the EU should address those topics but should not isolate countries that do not live up to European standards.

His comments feed into Europe’s reassessment of individual and collective relations with China triggered most immediately by Russia’s war on Ukraine.