Britain, in rare rebuke of China at UN rights forum, voices concern on Hong Kong, Xinjiang

Britain called on China on Friday to uphold rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration on Hong Kong and respect the independence of the former British colony's judiciary.

Lord Tariq Ahmad, Britain's minister of state for South Asia and the Commonwealth, said that the new security law imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong was "being implemented with the apparent intention to eliminate dissent" amid "reports of torture".

He called for access to China's remote region of Xinjiang, adding: "Culture and religion are severely restricted, and we have seen credible reports of forced labour and forced birth control. Staggeringly, up to 1.8 million people have been detained without trial."

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