The UK government on Thursday defended its potential meeting with the governor of Xinjiang, sanctioned by the US over the Chinese region’s treatment of its Muslim Uyghur minority.
Responding to an urgent question asked in parliament, Foreign Office minister Leo Docherty told angry MPs that the government had not invited Erkin Tuniyaz to the UK.
Tuniyaz is due to make the visit next week, but “we have no confirmation that he will in fact, travel”, said Docherty.
“Our expectation is that he will be travelling on a diplomatic passport and has not yet been granted therefore a visa,” he added.
However, if he does visit, he may meet with officials from the Foreign Office.
“We’ve judged this might be an opportunity to send a very strong message to someone who is involved in the governance of Xinjiang,” said Docherty, adding that “under no circumstances would he be dignified with a ministerial meeting.”
“We must be prepared to use diplomatic channels to achieve that and hence officials would be prepared to offer him a meeting,” he explained.
Tuniyaz has defended China’s “de-radicalisation” policies in the country’s north-west, including the use of detention facilities.
He was sanctioned by the US in 2021, with the Treasury saying that during his tenure “more than 1 million Uyghurs and members of other predominantly Muslim ethnic minority groups have been detained in Xinjiang”.
The UK parliament passed a non-binding declaration last year that crimes against humanity and genocide were being committed in Xinjiang.
A recent United Nations report found credible allegations of torture and forced labour there.
However, Beijing has long denied any such accusations, claiming the United States and Western allies are using the issue as a “political tool”.
Former Conservative Party leader and Beijing critic Iain Duncan Smith, who introduced the question, called the government’s actions “weak”, and demanded that Tuniyaz be sanctioned.
“This weak response from the Foreign Office hides something. It isn’t that they invited him here, it’s that they’ve made it clear that when he comes here, he of course will be welcome to come and see them,” he said.
“This is a propaganda coup for the Chinese government.
“A man that absolutely declares nothing is going on is hardly likely to be bothered by a Foreign Office official telling him ‘now now, you’ve got to stop this’,” he added.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that his office would not “speculate on action we may take in the future with regards to sanctions on particular individuals.
“But for now we think the right approach is to personally deliver the message to the governor of Xinjiang,” he added.
