China: Speech by the High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell in the EP plenary on the cases of unjustly imprisoned Uyghurs, notably Ilham Tohti and Gulshan Abbas

Speech delivered by Commissioner for Budget and Administration, Johannes Hahn, on behalf of High Representative/Vice-President Josep Borrell

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Madame President, Honourable Members,

The human rights situation in China remains very dire.

Just two weeks ago, High Representative [Josep] Borrell issued a statement on the 10th anniversary of the sentencing of Ilham Tohti. For over two decades, Professor Tohti worked tirelessly to foster dialogue and understanding between Uyghurs and Han Chinese. Still, he was sentenced to life on alleged separatism-related charges.

Doctor Gulshan Abbas was sentenced [to] 20 years in prison, reportedly only because of her sister's work on human rights. The European Union has raised her case many times with the Chinese authorities.

Reports about the deteriorating health conditions of both Professor Tohti and Doctor Abbas are very worrying. Their harsh sentencing illustrates China's ongoing crackdown on human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, academics and the Uyghur intellectuals at large, who face harassment, intimidation and surveillance.
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, UN Treaty Bodies, Special Rapporteurs, and civil society organisations continue to report human rights abuses in China, particularly in Xinjiang. These include political re-education camps, mass arbitrary detentions, widespread surveillance, tracking and control measures, systemic and severe restrictions on the exercise of fundamental freedoms, the use of forced labour and labour transfer schemes.

Let me reassure you that the [European] Union will continue to follow China's human rights situation very closely. The European Parliament's support in addressing China's human rights violations remains crucial.

We reiterate our calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Professor Tohti and Doctor Abbas, among others and, I want to reassure you, we will continue to convey our concerns directly to the Chinese leadership.

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