London: Billboards against China's Chen Quanguo for Uyghurs, Tibetan repression
Nov 28, 2020
London [UK], November 28 : Several Billboards have been put in the streets of London demanding the arrest of Chen Quanguo, secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The message on the boards urge the United Kingdom to act against the Chinese leader for the repression of Uyghurs and Tibetan communities.
Chen is considered as the person behind the draconian security apparatus in Tibet and a mastermind behind the camps in Xinjiang which incarcerate over a million Uyghur minorities.
A billboard titled: 'UNWANTED', read 'Turned Tibet into a police state. #UKmustact' with an illustration of Chen. Another billboard read: 'Turned Tibet into a Police State'.
Rights groups and campaigners, for a long time, have been asking the UK government to impose sanctions on Chen.
Chen Quanguo, a member of the 19th Politburo of the CCP, is being considered for the No. 2 positions in the party and therefore is most likely to take control of the Central Administration in future.
In July, the UK launched its new Magnitsky-style sanctions against human rights-abusing regimes. It named 49 individuals and organisations who are involved in some of the "most notorious human rights violations and abuses in recent years" around the world.
Individuals from Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Russia and North Korea were targeted. But senior officials from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) were missing from the list - despite a raft of documented abuses most notably in Xinjiang and Tibet.
Chen is most ruthless Chinese leader ever to have ruled Tibet and East Turkistan.
On July 9, the United States government imposed Global Magnitsky Act sanctions and visa restrictions against Chen Quanguo. With sanctions, he and his immediate relatives are barred from entering the US and will have US-based assets frozen.
Recently, a London-based human rights group, Free Tibet, has demanded the UK government to held Chen responsible for these widespread abuses. It has said that Chen's name must be added to the global human rights sanctions regime list, to send a signal to Beijing that abuses against Tibetans and Uyghurs will not just be monitored, but also punished.
Chen has been the architect of human rights abuses against Tibetans, Uyghurs and Kazakhs for the last 10 years and the world has done nothing.
"The USA has already imposed sanctions on Chen, and it is time for the UK to follow suit. This will set a precedent that other countries can and must follow. Whether you are in the UK or elsewhere in the world, we urge you to sign this petition," the Free Tibet said in a statement.
