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Uighur prisoner footage shown to Chinese ambassador on live UK television

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Chinese ambassador confronted on live television with Uighur prisoner footageWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementLondon: China's ambassador to Britain says he cannot rule out cases of Uighur women being sterilised in the Xinjiang region, after being confronted with footage of blindfolded and handcuffed prisoners being herded onto trains in Xinjiang on live television.Liu Xiaoming appeared on The Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, to warn Britain that it would face a "resolute response" if it followed in the footsteps of the United States in sanctioning Chinese Communist Party officials over human rights abuses in Xinjiang, where more than one million Uighurs are thought to be .On his BBC program, host Marr , which has been widely shared online for almost a year and asked Liu: "Can you tell us what is happening here?"Liu , contending that Xinjiang was "the most beautiful place in Xinjiang" instead.But after being repeatedly being questioned, he tried to imply that the footage – which has been – was fake."There’s no such a concentration camp in Xinjiang," he said. "People in Xinjiang enjoy a happy life."The so-called Western intelligence keep making this fake accusation against China," he said.But when pressed, he conceded the footage could be showing the transfer of prisoners and could not rule out "single cases" of Uighur women being forced to have abortions or be sterilised.Advertisement"First of all, there’s no so-called pervasive massive forced sterilisation among Uighur people in China ... but I cannot rule out, you know, single cases for any country," Liu said."You know, sometimes you have a transfer of prisons and prisoners, you know, in any country."Researchers have claimed .Alicia Kearns, a newly elected MP who formerly worked in the foreign office for the global coalition fighting Islamic State, said the ambassador had "reeled out a tired farce" and said an international inquiry was needed into China's human rights abuses."His interview was full of veiled threats and transparent denials, which left viewers in no doubt that he was dancing around the truth," Kearns told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age."The Chinese Government has industrialised its genocide against the Uighur people – the world has woken up too late, but it now must unite to do all it can."I refuse to be complicit; the Uighur people deserve justice."Kearns said the international community must push for a UN-led international inquiry and called on Beijing to lift its ban on international observers and organisations in Xinjiang."Religion is not a pathology, and the UK has a proud history of standing up for human rights," she said. "The ambassador would do well to remember both."Kearns is one of scores of British MPs pushing for Britain to follow Australia and Canada's lead in dropping its extradition treaty with Hong Kong, following Beijing's crackdown on free speech and the pro-democracy movement in the territory.Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is under pressure to announce that when he delivers a statement to the Commons on China policy on Monday.His comments will be watched by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who arrives in London for two days of meetings with Raab and, significantly, with the group of Conservative MPs who forced Prime Minister Boris Johnson's .Raab said it was "clear that there are gross, egregious, human rights abuses going on" against the Uighurs in Xinjiang but declined to call it "genocide"."It is deeply, deeply troubling and reports and the human aspect, from enforced sterilisation to the education camps, are reminiscent of something we have not seen for a long, long time."And this is from a leading member of the international community that wants to be taken seriously," he said.Get our Coronavirus Update newsletter for the day's crucial developments and the numbers you need to know. Sign up to The Sydney Morning Herald's newsletter and The Age's .Log in, or to save articles for later. is a journalist for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, based in London.Advertisement

Chinese ambassador confronted on live television with Uighur prisoner footageWe’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.DismisscloseAdvertisementBy Log in, or to save articles for later.Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeAdvertisementLondon: China's ambassador to Britain says he cannot rule out cases of Uighur women being sterilised in the Xinjiang region, after being confronted with footage of blindfolded and handcuffed prisoners being herded onto trains in Xinjiang on live television.Liu Xiaoming appeared on The...

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Uighur prisoner footage shown to Chinese ambassador on live UK television

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