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Erkin Tuniyaz: Chinese official cancels controversial UK visit

Reuters Erkin Tuniyaz at a Human Rights Council meeting in GenevaReuters
Mr Tuniyaz (left), seen in this file picture from 2019, is the governor of Xinjiang province

A Chinese Communist Party official accused of overseeing human rights abuses has cancelled a visit to the UK.

MPs urged the government to block Erkin Tuniyaz from travelling to London.

The senior figure is governor of China's north-western Xinjiang province.

In 2021, MPs approved a non-binding Commons motion which declared Uyghur Muslims and other minorities in Xinjiang were "suffering crimes against humanity and genocide".

A Foreign Office spokesperson said they understood Mr Tuniyaz had pulled out of the trip.

The government insists it did not invite him and that he would not have been granted an audience with a minister.

"The UK government will continue to use all opportunities to take action against China's unacceptable human rights abuses in Xinjiang," a Foreign Office spokesperson said in a statement.

China has been accused of systematic human rights abuses against the Muslim minority, where hundreds of thousands have been detained in camps.

The United Nations has accused China of "serious human rights violations" and possible crimes against humanity in Xinjiang.