Uyghur rights representatives welcome Huawei 5G ban – but want human rights taken into account

Pic credit: Unsplash/ @omidarmin

Lawyers representing Uyghur people in the UK have welcomed reports that Government officials are considering phasing out Huawei’s role in the country’s telecoms network.

It comes as the National Cyber Security Centre said it could not guarantee the safety of the Chinese company’s products due to US sanctions. 

A Government spokesman said: “We are considering the impact the US’s additional sanctions against Huawei could have on UK networks. 

“It is an ongoing process and we will update further in due course.”

But, Lawyers for Uyghur Rights (LUR) wants human rights to be taken into account following harrowing reports of genocide and crimes against humanity being committed against Turkic people in Xinjiang (East Turkestan) by the Chinese Communist Party. 

Lawyer Michael Polak

Michael Polak from LUR, which has repeatedly written to the Government to request a promise that human rights grounds are taken into account in the decision and have a pending complaint with UN bodies about the reports, provided a statement to Democracy Yellow. 

He said: “We welcome any possible Government decision based on National Cyber Security Centre advice.

“However, we believe that the UK Government should take a strong stand on the systematic oppression of the Uyghur and other Turkic people which amounts to crimes against humanity and which the evidence we have submitted provides is facilitated by Huawei.

“We also want the Government to take this into account and say once and for all that the UK Government will not allow a company involved in breaches of jus cogens rules of international law to enter the UK market.”

In response to reports the Government was considering phasing out its role, Victor Zhang, VP at Huawei, said it planned to work with Washington DC and London. 

He added: “We are working closely with our customers to find ways of managing the proposed US restrictions so the UK can maintain its current lead in 5G. As ever, we remain open to discussions with the Government.

“We believe it is too early to determine the impact of the proposed restrictions, which are not about security, but about market position.

“All our world-leading products and solutions use technology and components over which the UK government has strict oversight. 

“Our technology is already extensively used in 5G networks across the country and has helped connect people throughout lockdown.”

Huawei recently found itself in the spotlight after it and numerous other companies were named in a report by the Australian Strategic and Police Institute as ones that used goods in their supply chain that were made by Uyghurs sent from “re-education camps” to work at factories. 

The report “Uyghurs for Sale” estimated some “80,000 were transported out of Xinjiang (East Turkestan) to work in factories across China between 2017-2019”.

It went into further detail and stated Uyghur and other ethnic minorities had been forced to undergo “ideological training” and “forbidden from participating in religious observances” among many other crimes. 

Huawei strongly denies the accusations made against it in the report.