Italian lawmaker expresses concern at persecution of Uyghur community in China

MUNICH: Former Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi has expressed support for the Uyghur community and condemned their persecution by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The statement titled 'EU Keep High Attention On Rights Violations In Xinjiang' shared on 'X' referenced the ongoing visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping's to Europe and the atrocities suffered by Uyghurs at the hands of Chinese authorities.

The statement of the Italian lawmaker mentioned that "this is a topic of increased relevance raised in conjunction with Xi Jinping's visit to Europe which is commented by many analysts as an initiative aimed at fragmenting European member states on major issues trade, in particular concerning imports of electric cars and the application of anti-dumping policies to protect against market distortions caused by unfair competition from Beijing".

He said, "As it is known, Xinjiang is one of the regions of China in which the most basic human rights are violated, the existence of suppressive policies against the identity, culture and religion of the inhabitants of that region being recognized by the European institutions, in particular by the European Parliament, and by the US Congress: forced labor, camps of re-education and internment, disappearances of people, families, and children, ban on expressing one's faith".

While raising the issue of enforced labor upon the people of East Turkistan, "On 22 April last the Presidency of the Fourth Policy Commission of the European Union met a delegation from the Department of Homeland Security of the United States of America. At the meeting, the priority that Washington reserves in the national context for investigations, prevention measures, and sanctions of forced labor in Xinjiang was underlined. Intending for increasingly close collaboration with the EU, and in particular with our nation, "the US delegation went into detail, reporting alarming data on the impact that products originating from forced labor in Xinjiang have on the global supply chain, and therefore on the security of our countries".

As per the statement by Terzi, "There is an urgent need for more in-depth controls on supply chains and in this sense, the next European Parliament must continue to maintain a high level of attention in tackling aggressive Chinese antagonism in the political, economic and social".