This archive report was first published on 20 December 2019.
On December 19, 2019, the European Parliament passed a resolution calling for targeted sanctions against Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in Xinjiang.
China has faced international condemnation for rounding up an estimated one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities in internment camps in the northwestern region of Xinjiang.
Members of the European Parliament urged the Chinese government to immediately end the practice of arbitrary detentions without charge, trial, or conviction.
Beijing responded by calling for the European Parliament to abandon its double standards on counter-terrorism and stop interfering in China's internal affairs.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Geng Shuang stated, "The people of Xinjiang and the Chinese people have a greater right to speak (about the situation in Xinjiang) than those who are far away in Europe, who have never been to Xinjiang."
The European Parliament had previously presented a human rights award to the daughter of jailed Uighur intellectual Ilham Tohti, who was hailed as a "voice of moderation and reconciliation" but condemned by Beijing as a "terrorist".
Beijing initially denied the existence of the Xinjiang camps, but now claims they are "vocational training centers" necessary to combat terrorism.
