“Small but essential win for human rights” – Carmichael welcomes government climbdown on Xinjiang governor meeting

Orkney and Shetland MP, Alistair Carmichael, has welcomed news this evening that a planned meeting between Foreign Office officials and the governor of Xinjiang Erkin Yuniyaz will no longer go ahead. The meeting sparked controversy given the reports of a genocide against Uyghur Muslims in China, with Mr Carmichael and other MPs across Parliament calling for the meeting to be scrapped last week.

Mr Carmichael said:

“This is a small but essential win for human rights. The point is of course not to isolate China but to engage with her on different terms, putting greater value on these fundamental rights. It was absurd that the Foreign Office thought it would be appropriate to meet with a figure directly implicated in the genocide of the Uyghur people. Meeting with Erkin Yuniyaz would have sent a terrible message about our willingness to stand up for our values.

“The government must go further and bring forward sanctions against those involved in the brutal human rights abuses in Xinjiang – and ensure that firms implicated cannot work freely within UK infrastructure. This is a matter of both our values and our security.”