London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Sep 10, 2026

UK must match rhetoric with action on China’s treatment of Uyghurs, say MPs

UK must match rhetoric with action on China’s treatment of Uyghurs, say MPs

Foreign affairs committee calls for import ban on products from Xinjiang, where it says there is ‘industrial-scale forced labour’
Britain must act to stop China’s atrocities against Uyghur Muslims by banning the import of Chinese cotton and solar panels from Xinjiang province, as well as by announcing that no government officials will attend the Winter Olympics in Beijing, a report by MPs says.

The chair of parliament’s foreign affairs committee, Tom Tugendhat, said that without action the UK would be allowing China “to nest the dragon deeper and deeper into British life”.

The committee’s report says the government’s often tough rhetoric over “the industrial-scale forced labour schemes in Xinjiang” is not matched by effective action.

The MPs accuse ministers of setting lax requirements on companies to remove forced labour from their supply chains, failing to sanction the Chinese official most responsible for mass atrocities, and failing after six months to publish “an urgent review” of UK trade controls from Xinjiang.

They also urge ministers to join the UK parliament in describing what is happening as genocide, saying the tactics of naming and shaming has been shown to be more effective than closed-door diplomacy.

A special fast-track asylum system for Uyghurs is also proposed. The all-party report also calls for technology firms underpinning what is described as Xinjiang’s police state to be banned from the UK.

The report is certain to provoke an angry reaction from the Chinese government, but one committee member, Alicia Kearns, said MPs could not shy away from making criticisms.

Kearns said: “It’s time for big boy politics. You cannot work with any partner on a best friend basis. We are the mother of all parliaments and if we are not willing to speak up for those that others seek to silence, then what parliament is going to do it?”

The report says: “The Chinese government is responsible for the mass detention of more than a million Uyghurs, for forcing them into industrial-scale forced labour programmes, and for attempting to wipe out Uyghur and Islamic culture in the region through forced sterilisation of women, destruction of cultural sites, and separation of children from families.

“The mass incarcerations and connected factories and farms mean it should be assumed that any product originating from Xinjiang is the product of forced labour. While much focus has been placed on the textile and apparel sector, other areas such as solar energy, agriculture and electronics also bear a substantial risk of using forced labour.”

It says as many as 570,000 people are forced to pick cotton, often paid little to nothing.

As a remedy it proposes that “until there can be definitive proof that products are not tainted by forced labour, UK companies and consumers should not be purchasing them”. It also calls for a government import ban on cotton and other products sourced to forced labour, something Tugendhat said was in compliance with WTO rules.

More than 80% of China’s cotton comes from Xinjiang, and China provides a quarter of the world’s cotton products. Similarly, 40% of UK solar panels have Xinjiang-sourced materials.

The report also proposes that “the British Olympic Association does not participate in the opening or closing Beijing 2022 ceremonies, beyond one representative carrying the union flag. It should abstain from sending government officials to any ceremonies or functions, strongly discourage UK businesses from sponsoring or advertising at the Olympics, encourage fans and tourists to stay away, and discourage athletes from supporting or accepting the Chinese government’s propaganda efforts.”

The report calls for a ban on the use in Britain of surveillance equipment supplied by the Chinese firm Hikvision, saying the firm operates in Xinjiang and so has helped turn the province into “a modern police state where advanced technology is deployed to support an unprecedented level of surveillance, invasion of privacy and repression”.

At the same time the report praises the government’s diplomatic efforts to raise the issue internationally, and accuses China of using its belt and road initiative as a means of putting pressure on many Islamic countries not to speak out against the atrocities in Xinjiang.

Tugendhat, who has already been personally subject to Chinese government sanctions, said there was a growing need to adopt a tough approach. “We are seeing a growing nationalism in China and we need to be cautious that what we are not doing is being seen to be feeding the crocodile and hoping to be eaten last.”

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The evidence of the scale and the severity of the human rights violations being perpetrated in Xinjiang against the Uyghur Muslims is far-reaching, and paints a truly harrowing picture.

“The UK government has led international efforts to hold China to account for its human rights violations in Xinjiang at the UN. We will carefully consider the findings of this report.”
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Merz Rebukes AfD Expansion in Saxony-Anhalt
King Charles Confirms Prince Harry and Meghan Will Remain Private Citizens
Labour Selects Former Child Refugee for By-Election in Keir Starmer’s Former Seat
Foreign Private Equity Accelerates Takeovers of London-Listed Industrial Companies
NHS Maternity Care Faces Scrutiny Over Support for Mothers After Caesarean Births
BBC Warns Staff Strikes Are Likely Amid Job Cuts and Programme Cancellations
English Housing Affordability Improves to Best Level in More Than a Decade
UK Health Commission Proposes Framework for Wider AI Adoption Across NHS
Labour Faces Pressure for Wealth Tax Ahead of Autumn Budget
Metropolitan Police Open Criminal Investigation Into Alleged Foreign Donations to Reform UK
UK Police Deploy Riot Officers After Anti-Immigration Unrest in Portsmouth and Dover
UK Defends Sanctions on Israeli Settlements Despite Diplomatic Retaliation
UK Air Traffic Control Failure Cancels More Than 1,000 Flights and Disrupts 65,000 Passengers
Compass Urges £10 Million Wealth Tax and Public Ownership Ahead of UK Autumn Budget
UK Government’s Devolution Plans Face House of Lords Scrutiny
Maldives Seeks New Chagos Sovereignty Talks With UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham
UK Airports Face Continuing Disruption After National Air Traffic Control Failure
UK Bans Imports From Israeli Settlements and Expands Sanctions on Iran
British Chambers of Commerce Forecasts UK Growth of 1% as Investment Remains Weak
UK Suspends Local Government Reorganisation Decisions and Cancels Planned Shadow Authority Polls
UK Parliament Opens Inquiry Into Gaps in Climate Change Preparedness
Andy Burnham and Xi Jinping Hold Talks on Trade, Security and British Consular Cases
UK Joins France, Canada and Other Nations in Measures Against Israeli West Bank Settlements
UK Announces New Sanctions Targeting Iranian Nuclear and Military Networks
British Chambers of Commerce Calls for Business Rate Reform and Productivity Support
UK Farmers Warn Dry Summer Could Reduce Crop Yields and Push Up Food Prices
UK Rail Networks Hit by Widespread Delays After Major Signalling Failures
Matt Clifford Resigns as ARIA Chair After Conflict-of-Interest Scrutiny
UK and France Say Joint Border Operations Have Prevented More Than 48,000 Irregular Channel Crossings
UK Core Inflation Remains Above Expectations as Utility and Commodity Costs Stay Elevated
Jaguar Land Rover Considers Up to 4,000 UK Job Cuts Amid Automotive Industry Pressure
UK Government Pauses Local Authority Reorganisation for Legal Review
UK Public Borrowing Reaches £1.8 Billion in July, Adding Pressure Before Autumn Budget
Chancellor John Healey Puts Regional Devolution and Fiscal Discipline at Heart of UK Growth Plan
Counter-Terrorism Police Lead Salford Investigation After Two Teenagers Charged
UK Rejects Financial Reparations for Transatlantic Slavery
UK and Egypt Step Up Diplomacy Over Escalating West Bank Tensions
UK Pauses Council Reorganisation Across Four English Counties
Jaguar Land Rover Plans 4,000 Job Cuts in Major UK Restructuring
UK Unveils Planning and Regulatory Overhaul to Speed Infrastructure and Economic Growth
University of Bristol Opens £500 Million Innovation Campus
Families Give Evidence to Independent Review of Sussex Maternity Failures
Sweden Confirms Deportation of 458 British Citizens Over Post-Brexit Residency Rules
UK Launches £3 Million Challenge for Long-Duration Energy Storage
Reform UK Proposes £100 Billion in Spending Cuts and Brownfield Deregulation
Andy Burnham Warns Macron That EU Procurement Rules Could Hurt British Steel
Andy Burnham Faces Major Decision on Future North Sea Oil and Gas Drilling
SEND Support in England Projected to Reach One in 10 Pupils
England’s Housing Courts Struggle With Surge in No-Fault Eviction Cases
Violent Clashes Erupt in Portsmouth During Protest Against Asylum Processing
×