Crimes against humanity

Views from around the world. These opinions are not necessarily shared by Stuff newspapers.

It took a long time for leaders to notice, longer to condemn, and longer still to act. It took time for researchers to amass evidence of China’s treatment of Uighurs in Xinjiang – from mass detention to forced sterilisation – given the intense security and secrecy in the northwest region. But the hesitation by governments also reflected the anxiety to maintain relations with the world’s second-largest economy.

On Tuesday, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, described a ‘‘systematic attempt to destroy Uighurs by the Chinese

party-state . . .’’ . His statement is a parting shot, made with some cynicism. (Not all criticism of human rights abuses, however merited, is motivated solely by human rights concerns; Mr Trump reportedly told Xi Jinping the camps were ‘‘exactly the right thing to do’’.) While Mr Trump broke with the previous approach to China, the US has undergone a bipartisan shift, forged primarily by Beijing’s actions – not only in Xinjiang but also in Hong Kong, its handling of the pandemic and in international relations more broadly.

The same change is evident in the UK, as evidenced by the sizeable Conservative rebellion in parliament on Tuesday, in which an amendment to the trade bill was narrowly defeated. The genocide amendment was backed by all opposition parties, as well as a broad coalition outside parliament. It proposes that the UK high courts could determine whether genocide is taking place, potentially leading to the revocation of trade deals.

The political ground internationally is shifting. But measures can only hope to have an impact if like-minded nations act together and support each other.