Uighurs: PM 'stands firmly' with MPs and Britons after China sanctions

Boris Johnson says he "stands firmly" with MPs and other UK citizens who have been sanctioned by China after criticising its treatment of the Uighur people.

The PM said they were "shining a light" on "gross human rights violations" against the Muslim minority group.

The sanctions follow similar moves by the UK, US, Canada and the EU on China.

Among those targeted by China are the ex-Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, two peers, a lawyer and an academic.

China has imposed sanctions on nine UK citizens - including five MPs - who are among the most vocal critics of the country in the UK.

It said it had sanctioned the Britons for spreading what it called "lies and disinformation" about the country.

Mr Johnson tweeted: "The MPs and other British citizens sanctioned by China today are performing a vital role shining a light on the gross human rights violations being perpetrated against Uighur Muslims.

"Freedom to speak out in opposition to abuse is fundamental and I stand firmly with them."

China has detained Uighurs at camps in the north-west region of Xinjiang, where allegations of torture, forced labour and sexual abuse have emerged.

It has denied the allegations of abuse, claiming the camps are "re-education" facilities used to combat terrorism.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said that if Beijing wanted to "credibly rebut" the claims, it should allow the United Nation's commissioner for human rights to access Xinjiang.

It comes after sanctions were imposed on Chinese officials on Monday, as part of a co-ordinated action by the European Union and the UK, the US and Canada.

The nine people facing sanctions are:

They will all be banned from entering China, Hong Kong and Macau, their property in China will be frozen and Chinese citizens and institutions will be prohibited from doing business with them.

Sir Iain said: "Those of us who live free lives under the rule of law must speak for those who have no voice. If that brings the anger of China down upon me then I shall wear that as a badge of honour."

Ms Ghani told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the move was a "wake-up call" for democratic countries, that China would sanction law-makers who were just doing their job.

She added: "I won't be intimidated. This has now made me even more determined to speak out about the Uighurs."

Mr Tugendhat, who chairs the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, told the BBC: "I view this as a direct assault on British democracy and an attempt to silence the British people who have chosen me to speak for them."

He added that the government had been too soft on China, which he said had been "constantly and continuously seeking to intervene" in the internal matters of the UK.

Academic Dr Smith Finley tweeted: "I have no regrets for speaking out, and I will not be silenced."

Britain's relations with China are going from bad to worse.

On Monday, the UK imposed its first ever sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Now Beijing has retaliated, announcing sanctions on some of its most vocal critics in Britain.

It matters because the government is trying to strike a balance in its relations with Beijing.

In its recent foreign policy review, the UK described China as a "systemic competitor" and "the biggest state-based threat to the UK's economic security".

But it also spoke of pursuing "a positive trade and investment relationship" and co-operating with China on climate change and biodiversity. All that just became a little harder still.

Labour's shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy said the sanctions were a "direct attempt to silence those who criticise the actions of the Chinese government".

A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said the UK's decision to impose sanctions "flagrantly breaches international law and basic norms governing international relations, grossly interferes in China's internal affairs, and severely undermines China-UK relations".

He added that the Chinese foreign ministry had summoned the British Ambassador to China to "lodge solemn representations, expressing firm opposition and strong condemnation".

Hua Chunying, a spokeswoman for the Chinese foreign ministry, later told a press briefing China was forced to act "in self-defence" in response to UK sanctions "based on lies".

Four groups have also been sanctioned - the China Research Group, the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, the Uighur Tribunal, and Essex Court Chambers.

A legal opinion by senior barristers at Essex Court Chambers had concluded there was a "very credible case" that the Chinese government was committing genocide against the Uighurs.

An Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China spokesman said: "The decision to sanction five of our British members is a flagrant assault on those parliamentarians' rights to conduct their duties.

"We will be making urgent representations to ministers and the House authorities to see that they're protected from danger or harm as a result of the communist party's bullying."

China has gone for the people exerting the most pressure on Boris Johnson to be tough on China.

It's gone for the people who say "genocide" has happened in Xinjiang.

The measures are essentially tokenistic - it's unlikely these people or entities did any business with Chinese firms or people anyway.

Targeting Neil O'Brien is personal for the UK prime minister. The MP is in charge of leading policy in Downing Street.

Going after Essex Court Chambers - a group of self-employed barristers - for a legal opinion it reached also shows you how China views an independent judicial system. It doesn't believe in them.

After UK sanctions were announced on Monday, Mr Raab called the abuse of Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang "one of the worst human rights crises of our time".

More than a million Uighurs and other minorities are estimated to have been detained in camps in Xinjiang.

Xinjiang lies in the north-west of China and is the country's biggest region. Like Tibet, it is autonomous, meaning - in theory - it has some powers of self-governance. But in practice, both face major restrictions by the central government.

Uighurs living in the region speak their own language, similar to Turkish, and see themselves as culturally and ethnically close to Central Asian nations.

The Chinese government has been accused of carrying out forced sterilisations on Uighur women and separating children from their families.

The country initially denied the existence of the camps, before defending them as a necessary measure against terrorism. It has denied allegations of human rights abuses.