Charles Michel wants to investigate the Uyghurs -

Yves Herman / AP / SIPA

The EU on Monday proposed to China the sending of "independent observers" to the Chinese province of Xinjiang, where Beijing is accused of orchestrating a large-scale persecution against the Uyghur Muslim minority, said the president of the Council. European Charles Michel.

"We reiterate our concerns about China's treatment of minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet, as well as the fate of human rights defenders and journalists," Charles Michel told reporters after the meeting. 'a video conference with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Possibility of visits to China?

"We requested access to independent observers in Xinjiang," he added.

"The issue of human rights must be the subject of very meticulous attention, one of the important points today is the proposal to conduct visits" to the regions concerned, he explained.

The Uyghurs, Muslims and Turkic speakers, constitute the main ethnic group in Xinjiang, a huge region in western China which notably has common borders with Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Battle of numbers and communication

The United States, like other Western countries and many international organizations, accuses Beijing of carrying out large-scale persecutions against Uyghurs and of having arbitrarily interned more than one million Muslims in Xinjiang in camps.

China denies this figure and claims that they are vocational training centers, intended to help the population find jobs in order to distance them from the temptation of Islamist extremism.

In addition to these massive detentions, Beijing is also accused of forced sterilizations in the region.

The United States is also investigating

The EU, which considers the measures taken in Xinjiang "disproportionate" to the supposed objectives of the fight against terrorism, had already called in the past for the dispatch of observers, but to no effect.

At the end of July, the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian had proposed that an “international mission emanating from independent observers”, “under the leadership” of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet is going to Xinjiang to investigate.

Washington has for its part already adopted targeted sanctions against political leaders and companies involved in Xinjiang.

Beijing's security law targets all tensions

During the video conference on Monday, in which the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Angela Merkel also participated, Europeans also reiterated their concerns about Hong Kong.

The application by Beijing of a new security law constitutes, according to them, an attack on the freedoms of this semi-autonomous territory.

The 27 had already decided to limit exports of equipment usable for surveillance and repression in Hong Kong.

This law "continues to fuel serious concerns (...) Democratic voices in Hong Kong must be heard, rights protected and autonomy preserved", insisted Charles Michel.

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