The United Kingdom has accused China of human rights violations amounting to “barbarism” against its Uighur minority, as it announced, on Tuesday, new rules to ban imports of goods suspected of using forced labor.
The abuses were “on an industrial scale”, said foreign secretary Dominic Raab, in strongly-worded comments that will do little to improve ties with Beijing strained by its crackdown in Hong Kong.
“It is truly horrific barbarism we had hoped lost to another era, in practice today as we speak, in one of the leading members of the international community,” he told Parliament.
“We have a moral duty to respond.”
Raab outlined plans to bar British companies which inadvertently or deliberately profit from, or contribute to, human rights violations against the Uighurs in Xinjiang province, northwest China.
The measures included a strengthening of the UK’s Modern Slavery Act to introduce fines for businesses not complying with transparency rules, extending the act to the public sector, and an “urgent review” of export controls around Xinjiang.
The move stands in contrast to a December trade deal between the European Union and China, which approved major investment and opened up the Chinese market to the 27-member bloc.
The deal was criticized because of widespread claims of forced labor in Chinese supply chains and put the EU out of step with like-minded partners including the US, Australia and the UK, which have all sought to check China’s ambitions.
The UK left the EU in January last year, and as of January 1, this year is no longer bound by its rules.
It is hoping to use Brexit as a way to promote a more globally focused Britain beyond Europe.
