London sanctions Beijing's "barbarism" against the Uighurs

Correspondent in London

Unlike other European leaders, Boris Johnson is not afraid to anger Beijing.

Denouncing the Chinese crackdown on the Uighurs, London on Tuesday unveiled measures to ban the goods linked to the forced labor of this Muslim minority in Xinjiang, in the great northwest of China.

In making this announcement, the British foreign minister did not mince his words.

It is a

"barbarism which one hoped relegated in the past which is practiced today",

declared Dominic Raab in front of the deputies, evoking

"the arbitrary detention, the political re-education, the forced labor, the torture and the sterilization forced ”

by the Uighurs.

All carried out

"on an industrial scale"

.

Faced with these

"unacceptable violations of human rights"

, the United Kingdom had a

"moral duty"

to react, continued the minister.

A "call to action" from 300 NGOs

Many international experts estimate that at least a million Uighurs are held in internment and political re-education camps.

Beijing denies and retorts that these are vocational training centers intended to keep residents of the region away from the temptation of Islamism, separatism and terrorism.

Dominic Raab called on China to allow an independent investigation.

The measures adopted by London aim to ban imports and exports linked to forced labor by Uighurs.

On the one hand, this is to ensure that

"British companies do not participate in the supply chains that lead to the portals of the internment camps in Xinjiang"

.

On the other hand, that

“products resulting from human rights violations do not end up on

British

supermarket shelves”

.

Companies will face fines if they cannot demonstrate that their supplies are not linked to forced labor in Xinjiang.

This vast region of northwestern China is notably a major supplier of cotton at the world level.

Last week, the department store chain Marks & Spencer pledged that clothing would not be made from the cotton from Xinjiang.

It thus became the first large British company to join a “

Call to Action

 ” for the Uighurs launched by some 300 NGOs.

The difference between London and the EU

Doubting the impact of these measures, conservative deputies would like the government to go further, by introducing "

Magnitsky-type

" sanctions

against Chinese officials.

These sanctions target people accused of human rights violations and bear the name of Sergei Magnitsky, a Russian lawyer who died in prison after being arrested in 2008 for exposing the corruption of senior Russian officials.

London has so far refused to go that far, but Dominic Raab has said he is keeping that possibility in reserve.

The announcement of these measures, in an already tense context, will further deteriorate relations between London and Beijing.

China has been outraged by criticism of its brutal takeover of Hong Kong and the decision to exclude Chinese giant Huawei from the UK 5G network.

On Tuesday, Chinese Ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, called on the UK

"to stop interfering in China's internal affairs

.

"

As the European Union and China have just signed a controversial in-principle investment deal, this tough and courageous London stance is seen as a manifestation of a new independent post-Brexit foreign policy.

Dominic Raab thus declared that Great Britain always wanted a positive and constructive relation with China,

"but will not sacrifice neither its values ​​nor its security"

.