Opinion piece: International response to Chinese atrocities against the Uyghur Muslim crisis
Under the pretence of “anti-separatism”, “anti-extremism” and “counter-terrorism”, wide-ranging abuses of human rights are being carried out against the Uyghur people by the Chinese government. Since 2017, Amnesty International and the UN have estimated that one million or more Uyghurs, a majority Muslim population, have been arbitrarily detained, forced into “education” and labour camps, and experienced severe abuses of their rights.
Given that the echoes of “never again” are still reverberating throughout the international community, it is a shock that actions which amount to ethnic cleansing and genocide have yet to be met with accountability. The United Nations - the - [organisation] entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that the events culminating in its creation never happen again - is paralysed against the actions of the Chinese government. China has refused to allow foreign national observers to enter Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China and as a permanent member, China holds a veto in the United Nations Security Council, the only body which can authorise intervention in another state’s territory. At a hearing in London in June 2021, the tribunal heard from survivors, witnesses, and family members that the abuse, forcible rape, sterilisation and destruction of Uyghur culture is still ongoing. In addition to this, the international legal system as a whole is largely incapacitated due to China’s refusal to accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and its reservation against Article IX of the Genocide Convention.
This means that the UK government’s foreign policy, which has been to defer determination of genocide solely to the international courts, is highly ineffective. The atrocities occurring against the Uyghur people are undeniably horrific, sparking outrage from human rights committees and watchdogs, and attracting widespread condemnation across social media. The UK has, commendably, been one of the UN states who have consistently called out these human rights abuses, but after inaction on the part of the Chinese government, it is clear that rhetoric must be matched with action. Given that China is an immense visual power in the international community and holds such genuine and potentially coercive power in global politics and economics, leaving these abuses unchecked could undermine the entire international system.
After months of reviewing the situation in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China, dozens of testimonies and correspondences with corporations, human rights watchdogs, and witnesses, the all-party Foreign Affairs Committee released their report titled “Never Again: The UK's Responsibility to Act on Atrocities in Xinjiang and Beyond” on 8th July 2021. The Committee calls for the government to impose an import ban on products from XUARC, stressing the thus far ineffectiveness of UK policy. Though the international institutions are struggling to make a genuine impact, through regulation of the private sector, the Chinese government may be forced to listen.
As it stands, China supplies the world with 25% of all cotton products, and 84% of China’s cotton comes from XUARC. This means that there is a very strong likelihood that cotton being imported from China into the UK includes cotton which has been produced using forced Uyghur labour. In January 2021, the government made a superficial attempt at tightening the rules around Chinese cotton by requiring firms with an annual turnover of over £36m to show that they are trying to avoid using cotton from XUARC. Fines were introduced to firms who do not comply with the transparency requirements of the Modern Slavery Act 2015, but there is no legal requirement to remove modern slavery from the supply chain. Therefore, this guidance does little to change the actions of firms who do use forced labour, as there is little impact on the Chinese government. There is an urgent need to remove forced labour from UK supply chains and the government should, in line with the committee’s recommendations, legislate amendments to the MSA2015 to compel firms to investigate modern slavery, paying particular attention to product origin in their supply chains and remove the incidences with penalties for non-compliance.
Under WTO rules (specifically Article XI GATT 1994), members cannot forbid the importation of any product of any other member into their markets (Panel report in Brazil – Retreaded Tyres (2007), para. 7.11). However, there are certain exceptions to this rule, including where obligations under other international treaties call for trade prohibitions. Article I of the Genocide Convention states that contracting parties confirm that genocide is a crime under international law, which they undertake to prevent and to punish. Per the symbolic vote on 22nd April 2021, British MPs voted to declare that China is carrying out genocide against the Uyghur people. Thus, the commitment under the Genocide Convention provides enough to create an exception to Article XI GATT 1994. In itself, the vote enraged the Chinese government, who accused Parliament of “cooking up” the motion with the direct aim of discrediting China. If the UK government were to follow through and impose trade prohibitions, it may provoke further response and action from the international community.
Though it is unclear how China would react to trade prohibitions, this strong display of support of the Uyghur people would place the UK on the correct side of history. Coupled with support for survivors and fast-tracking Uyghur refugee applications, this may demonstrate that the perpetrators of the human rights atrocities can no longer strong arm the international community into silence.
The author of this article wished to remain anonymous
