Lithuania’s parliament became the latest to call China’s treatment of its Uighur minority a “genocide” on May 20. The Lithuanian parliament called on the United Nations to investigate China’s detention camps in Xinjiang and asked the European Commission to review its own relations with Beijing.
The U.S. government currently uses the term “genocide” to describe China’s actions against the Uighurs in Xinjiang, as do the parliaments of countries such as the United Kingdom and Canada. The Chinese government denies violating the human rights of ethnic minorities and has condemned the use of the word “genocide” by some countries, saying it is motivated by political propaganda.
The resolution in the Lithuanian parliament, which was supported by three-fifths of Lithuanian lawmakers, also calls on China to repeal its national security laws in Hong Kong, allow observers into Tibet, and begin a dialogue with Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The resolution, however, is not binding.
Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte and Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis attended the parliamentary session but did not participate in the vote.
Dovile Sakaliene, the resolution’s sponsor, said, “We support democracy because we will never forget the cruel lessons of living under the occupation of a communist regime for 50 years.” The Lithuanian lawmaker was previously sanctioned by the Chinese government for criticizing China’s practices in Xinjiang.
Lithuania, which was under Soviet rule from 1940 to 1991 and is now a member of the European Union and NATO, has often played a major role in pushing the West to take a tougher diplomatic line against communist countries like Russia and China.
In March, Lithuania said it would open a trade representative office in Taiwan this year, a move that angered Beijing.
Human rights groups, researchers, former residents of Xinjiang and some Western lawmakers say Chinese authorities have arbitrarily detained about 1 million Uighurs and other predominantly Muslim minorities in Xinjiang since 2016, holding them in a number of detention camps.
The Chinese government initially denied the existence of these detention camps and later claimed they were vocational training centers designed to combat religious extremism.
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