China is considering lifting the sanctions it imposed on UK parliamentarians in 2021, in the latest sign of warming relations between London and Beijing. The Chinese government is reviewing the sanctions, which it introduced four years ago in response to what it called “lies and disinformation” about human rights abuses in Xinjiang, according to two UK government sources familiar with the conversations. Asked to comment, a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in London said: “China has always attached importance to developing relations with the UK. Currently, UK-China relations are showing…
Tag: Uyghurs
Hong Kong police tell people not to download ‘secessionist’ mobile game
Hong Kong police have warned people against downloading a Taiwan-developed mobile game which they say is “secessionist” and could lead to arrest. The game, Reversed Front: Bonfire, allows users to “pledge allegiance” to various groups linked to locations that have been major flashpoints or targets for China including Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Uyghurs, Kazakhs and Manchuria, in order to “overthrow the communist regime” known as the “People’s Republic”. While some aspects and place names of the game’s worldview are imagined, the website says the game is “a work of NON-FICTION”…
Örkesh Dölet descended on to Tiananmen Square with thousands of fellow student protesters. He’s now 36 years into exile | Nuria Khasim
When I was little, mum used to take us to visit an elderly Uyghur couple every year. We would climb up the winding concrete stairs in a Soviet-era apartment block and be greeted with a warmth that felt like family. Over piping hot bowls of Uyghur chay, mum would talk to them for hours while my brother and I listened. I always assumed they were relatives of ours, until mum told me that they were the parents of her friend Örkesh Dölet, and they had not seen their son for…
Exiled pro-democracy activist on being Uyghur during Tiananmen Square protests – video
In 1989, a young Uyghur named Örkesh Dölet was a student leader in the Tiananmen Square protests. Throughout the protests, Dölet represented students in televised negotiations with Chinese Communist Party leaders. After the massacre, the 21-year-old was put on China’s list of most wanted student leaders and so he fled the country. He now lives in exile in Taiwan. ‘For every important choices I make in my life, my Uyghur-ness has always came in and played an important role,’ he says. ‘That we do the right thing, not the safe…
Ed Miliband bows to pressure with ban on solar panels linked to Chinese slavery
Ed Miliband will ban the UK’s national energy company from investing in projects that use solar panels linked to Chinese slave labour after bowing to pressure from Labour and Conservative MPs. The energy secretary has dropped his previous resistance to rewriting the bill establishing Great British Energy and will now introduce an amendment that forces the company to make sure there is no slavery or human trafficking in its supply chain. The decision, which was first reported by the Times, was welcomed by MPs and campaigners seeking to highlight Chinese…
Fate of 8 Uyghurs in Thailand in limbo after 40 deported to China
BANGKOK — Human rights advocates say at least some of the eight ethnic minority Uyghurs who remain in Thailand’s custody since authorities deported 40 others to China last month are at risk of the same fate. After weeks of denying it was planning to repatriate any of the 48 Chinese Uyghurs it had held since arresting them for illegal entry in 2014, Thailand abruptly turned 40 of them over to China on Feb. 27. The United States, United Nations and international rights groups strongly condemned Thailand for sending Uyghurs back…
Fashion retailer faces boycott amid allegations of Uyghur forced labor in China
washington — Chinese online fast-fashion retailer Shein, known for its affordable clothing globally, has become a target of a boycott campaign. As Muslims worldwide celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Chicago-based human rights organization Justice for All has called on Muslim women to boycott Shein, alleging it is involved in the forced labor of Uyghur Muslims in China. The rights group said last week on the social media platform X: A jilbab is a full-length, loose-fitting, head-to-toe garment worn by some Muslim women that also…
Central Asia leaders overlook plight of Uyghurs to woo China
washington — Any resentment among Central Asian leaders over China’s treatment of its Uyghur minority was swept aside during recent tours of the region by the chairman of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and the Chinese minister of public security. The warm welcome given the Chinese officials reflects the region’s growing economic ties with Beijing and its uneasiness with Russia — the region’s longtime guarantor against domestic rebellion — as that country struggles on the battlefield in Ukraine. Fears that Moscow’s territorial ambitions may extend to other former Soviet republics…
World Uyghur Congress Leader Discusses Time in China, Uyghur-Han Chinese Tension
As head of the World Uyghur Congress, Dolkun Isa runs one of the most prominent organizations in the world advocating for the rights of Uyghurs. In his recently released book, The China Freedom Trap, subtitled My Life on the Run, Isa recounts key events that have dotted his journey and time since he left China in 1994. To learn more about what it was like for him in China, VOA’s Natalie Liu spoke to Isa on the sidelines of a Washington event held by the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy…
World’s Largest Drone Maker Expands in US Amid Rights Abuse Allegations
washington — Chinese drone maker DJI is expanding in the U.S. with its first flagship store in New York City amid allegations of links to human rights abuses and ties to China’s military. DJI’s “first concept” North American store on New York’s Fifth Avenue welcomes customers into a futuristic, minimalist space to shop. The company describes itself on its website as “the world’s leader in civil drones and creative camera technology.” “We continue to see growing consumer demand throughout North America as we expand our consumer product portfolio,” said Christina…