On Thursday 18 April, the European Parliament called on the European Union to take action against China because of the repressive measures it imposes on many religious and ethnic minorities.
According to the joint resolution on China by the ECR, Greens/EFA, S&D, EPP and ALDE groups, adopted by a very large majority (505 in favour, 18 against and 47 abstentions), the EU Council should "consider adopting targeted sanctions against officials responsible for repression in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region “ where 10 million Uighur Muslims and Kazakhs live. The EU must monitor more closely worrying human rights developments in the region, according to the Parliament.
MEPs, concerned about the establishment of a sophisticated invasive digital surveillance network, also call on the EU, its Member States and even the international community to "stop all exports and technology transfers related to goods and services used in China to expand and improve cybersurveillance and predictive profiling”.
Member States must also prevent any activity by Chinese authorities on EU territory harassing members of ethnic or religious minorities, the Parliament said.
Speaking to the Chinese authorities, MEPs called for respect for the fundamental freedoms of religious and ethnic minorities. The authorities must put an end "without delay" to the practice of arbitrary detentions, without charge, trial or conviction for a criminal offence, of members of the Uighur and Kazakh minorities and Tibetans, close all camps and detention centres and release detainees immediately and unconditionally.
In the debate before the vote, the EU High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, called for European coherence, explaining that Member State governments should also insist on human rights in their meetings with Chinese leaders. “We have been very clear [with the Chinese authorities] on the issue of human rights, which are just as important, if not more important than our economic interests”, she said. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)