15 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The governor of China’s Xinjiang province, Erkin Tuniyaz, has canceled a visit to the UK after British MPs called for his arrest after being accused of genocide.
A spokesman for the British Foreign Office has indicated that the governor of Xinjiang has canceled his participation in the planned talks with diplomatic officials in London, according to the BBC.
“The UK Government will continue to seize every opportunity to take action against China’s unacceptable human rights abuses in Xinjiang,” the spokesperson said.
The country’s legislators criticized the Foreign Ministry last week for considering entering into talks with the governor, since the Xinjiang region is where forced sterilizations and the internment of minors from the Uyghur minority would be taking place.
However, the British government has insisted that it did not invite Erkin Tuniyax, nor would it have granted him an audience with any senior official.
Deputy Iain Duncan Smith accused the Xinjiang authorities of murder on Tuesday in relation to the situation of the Uyghur Muslim minority in the country, according to ‘The Guardian’.
“There is no negotiation until China stops what it is doing and restores the rights, privileges and freedoms for the Xinjiang people who are Uyghurs,” he declared, before calling the trip “unacceptable.”
