UK government urged to hold China 'to account' over Uyghurs
London, Jul 8: The British government should back a political boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing to pressure the Chinese government over the genocide of Uyghurs and other ethnic groups in the northwest province of Xinjiang, an influential group of lawmakers said Thursday.
The cross-party Foreign Affairs Committee, which is led by Conservative lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, said in a report that the atrocities being committed in Xinjiang represent an international crisis of profound urgency, making it unconscionable for any civilised government to look the other way.
China, which rejects the accusations of abuses in Xinjiang, has denied the United Nations unfettered access to the region to investigate the claims.
Tugendhat said the Conservative government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson should recognise the decision of British lawmakers in April to declare Beijing's policies against the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim and ethnic Turkic minorities in northwest China as genocide and crimes against humanity, and to hold the Chinese government "to account."
As the Communist Party celebrates its one hundredth anniversary, it's worth remembering that China has been a great civilization for more than five thousand years, he said. "These crimes against the Uyghur people stand out as a black moment in a golden history.
China has faced growing international criticism and sanctions for its alleged mass detention of more than one million people and its forced sterilization program. The U.S., for example, has stepped up its response under the new Biden administration, including travel bans, financial sanctions and commercial restrictions on Chinese imports. Unlike the British government, the U.S. government has declared China's policies against the Uyghurs as genocide.
Among its many recommendations, the committee of British lawmakers said the government should not attend" the Games, which are due to take place in Feb. 2022, and "should urge others not to do so.
Proponents of a boycott of the Games say that will send a clear message to Beijing about its treatment of the Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities and deny the Chinese government a gold-plated public relations opportunity.
Specifically around the Games, the committee said the government should abstain from sending officials to ceremonies or functions, discourage British businesses from any involvement and tourists from travelling. It said the government should also discourage athletes from supporting or accepting the Chinese government's propaganda efforts while in-country.
It said the government should also suggest to the British Olympic Association to not participate in the opening or closing ceremonies, beyond one representative carrying the British flag.
On Wednesday, Johnson indicated that he wasn't minded to boycott the Games, telling lawmakers that he is instinctively against sporting boycotts.
This country has led the world in condemning human rights abuses in Xinjiang and in putting sanctions on those responsible, in holding companies to account that import goods made with forced labour in Xinjiang," Johnson said.
In addition to the political boycott of the Beijing Games, the committee said the government should explore a ban on the import of all cotton products linked to Xinjiang. It raised concerns that products made by forced labor are being sold in the U.K., with more than 570,000 people estimated to have been obliged to pick cotton in the Xinjiang region.
The committee also urged the government to implement an asylum fast track for Uyghurs and others fleeing from persecution in China.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
