Written question asked by Rachael Maskell (Labour) on Tuesday, 20 July 2021, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 22 July 2021. It was answered by Nigel Adams (Conservative) on Monday, 26 July 2021 on behalf of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

China: Uyghurs

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what (a) plans he has to increase and (b) criteria he uses to assess the effectiveness of sanctions against China in response to the persecution of the Uyghur Muslim community.

Answer: The sanctions announced by the Foreign Secretary in March imposed asset freezes and travel bans on four senior Chinese officials and one entity responsible for the egregious human rights violations taking place in Xinjiang. By acting with 29 other countries on an agreed set of designations, we increased the reach and impact of these measures and sent the clearest possible signal of the international community's serious concern and collective willingness to act. Sanctions remain one response among a number of diplomatic tools that we deploy around the world to help achieve the UK's foreign policy goals. We consider them to be most effective when backed by co-ordinated, collective action, as we took in March. We continue to keep all evidence and potential listings under close review.

Secondary information