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'EU should abandon their double standards': China slams European Union Parliament over Uighur sanctions resolution

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: Dec 21, 2019, 11:36 PM IST
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Photograph:(AFP)

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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.

China on Friday slammed the European Union parliament after it passed a resolution calling for targeted sanctions against the country's officials over the treatment of Uighur minority.

While addressing a regular press briefing, foreign ministry spokesman, Geng Shuang said, EU should "abandon their double standards on counter-terrorism" and called to stop "interfering in China's internal affairs".

"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," Shuang added.

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.

On Thursday, the European Union Parliament approved a resolution condemning the mass incarceration of Uighurs minority.

Members of European Parliament called for "targeted sanctions and freeze assets, if deemed appropriate and effective, against the Chinese officials responsible for severe repression of basic rights in Xinjiang" in the resolution.

They also said that China's human rights record had worsened in the past year, and called for the Chinese government to "immediately end the practice of arbitrary detentions without any charge, trial or conviction".

(With inputs from agencies)