The foreign ministers of Canada and the United Kingdom and the U.S. Secretary of State issued a joint statement on Monday calling on the Chinese government to immediately end its crackdown on Muslim minorities in Xinjiang and allow for an independent international human rights investigation.
The statement noted that the countries joined in expressing ongoing and deep concern about China’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The evidence, including official Chinese documents, satellite imagery and eyewitness testimony, is overwhelming, and China’s widespread repression includes severe restrictions on religious freedom, forced labor, mass forced detentions and targeted destruction of Uighur traditions.
The statement said that the countries that signed the day’s sanctions against Chinese officials in Xinjiang were coordinated with the European Union and sent a clear signal of human rights abuses in Xinjiang. The countries unanimously called on China to end its crackdown on Uighur Muslims and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang and to release those who have been arbitrarily detained.
The countries also called on the Chinese government to allow the international community to conduct independent investigations into the actual human rights situation in Xinjiang, including by ensuring unhindered access for UN investigators, journalists and diplomats.
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