Leaders from the Group of Seven wealthy democracies on Sunday called on China to respect human rights in the semi-autonomous city of Hong Kong and in Xinjiang, where the Uighur minority lives.
UN experts and rights groups estimate over a million people, mainly Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, have been detained in recent years in a vast system of camps in Xinjiang.
"We will promote our values, including by calling on China to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms, especially in relation to Xinjiang and those rights, freedoms and high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong enshrined in the Sino-British Joint Declaration," the G7 said.
The group also lashed out at China's economic policies in a statement. The group said it would continue to "consult on collective approaches to challenging non-market policies and practices which undermine the fair and transparent operation of the global economy.”
The G7 summit in England aimed to show that international cooperation is back after the upheavals caused by the pandemic and the unpredictability of former US President Donald Trump. And they want to convey that the club of wealthy democracies — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States — is a better friend to poorer nations than rivals such as China.
The Group of Seven also demanded Sunday a full and thorough investigation of the origins of the novel coronavirus in China.
It called “for a timely, transparent, expert-led, and science-based WHO-convened Phase 2 COVID-19 Origins study including, as recommended by the experts’ report, in China."
