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Madam Chair, Honourable Members [of the European Parliament], 

I do not need to remind this House about the EU’s persistent and grave concerns about the human rights situation in China, notably the systematic repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang. The [European] Commission shares your concerns, as expressed in several parliamentary resolutions already adopted. The Commission also welcomes the award of the 2019 Sakharov Prize to Ilham Tohti.

While we all knew about the gravity of [the] human rights violations in Xinjiang, the “Xinjiang Police Files” add to the evidence, report and voices we hear from the ground. The leaked speeches, images, documents and spreadsheets shed new light on the brutal methods used by the Chinese government, seriously eroding the cultural and religious identity of the Uyghur people, justifying massive-scale and indiscriminate actions under the disguise of the fight against terrorism.  

The publication of these documents coincided with the visit of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, to China. We find it highly regrettable that the Chinese authorities did not provide full and unfettered access to High Commissioner Bachelet.  

While the High Commissioner expressed that the visit was not of any investigative nature, she also clarified that she has been unable to assess the full scale of political re-education camps in Xinjiang. The EU also deplores that her engagement with independent civil society organisations and human rights defenders was limited and somehow supervised. 

The visit has been further discussed today in Geneva, as part of the Strategic Dialogue on Human Rights between the EU and the Office of the High Commissioner, co-chaired by Eamon Gilmore, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights and High Commissioner Bachelet. 

This visit and the release of the Xinjiang Police Files call for the release, as a matter of absolute priority, of the remote-monitoring report on the human rights situation in Xinjiang prepared by the United Nations, through the Office.  

Let me assure you that the EU will continue to speak out against human rights violations occurring across China. We will also continue to convey our concerns to the Chinese leadership. In doing so, we will always make it clear that the EU will not compromise on human rights.

Thank you. 

Link to the video (starting at 33:15): https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-226319