China's plan to shift UK embassy face opposition from locals over Uyghurs' treatment

Beijing’s decision to relocate its UK embassy to former Royal Mint in London is facing opposition from the locals over its treatment of ethnic minorities in China. The residential streets of Tower Hamlets, which hosts the highest proportion of Muslims in a local authority area in Britain, are just behind the former Royal Mint.

According to a CNN report, the residents have shown hostility towards China’s decision to move its embassy near the city's original 19th century Chinatown. The residents reportedly said that the Chinese embassy isn’t welcome near a multi-ethnic and multi-religious neighbourhood until it stops its alleged mistreatment of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region.

Several leaked documents from China have revealed Beijing’s brutal and systematic crackdown on Uyghurs, in which they have called it a “struggle against terrorism, infiltration and separatism”. After Uyghur militants stabbed more than 150 people at a train station in 2014, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in a series of speeches delivered to officials, urged the party to follow America’s policy of “war on terror”.

Read: China Admits Death Of Uyghur Man Who Was Allegedly Detained In Xinjiang Camps

Read: China Targets Utsuls Of Hainan, Huis After Crackdown On Uyghur Muslims: Report

Local opposition councillor raised concern

Some local opposition councillors have also reportedly raised concern over the implications of the embassy’s decision to want a debate during council meetings. They wanted to introduce an emergency motion, calling on the council to send a letter to Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming to express concern over China’s treatment of Uyghurs and other ethnic minorities as well as its clampdown on pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong.

Recently, the US State Department launched a new webpage on alleged human right abuses of Uyghurs by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The department has cited reports of coercive population control, detention of more than one million people of ethnic minorities in internment camps, forced labour, and destruction of religious sites. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin rubbished the claims at a regular news conference, saying those are nothing but “rumours and slanders.”

Read: UN Watch Official Blasts China Over Uyghur Rights Abuse, Slams Countries Backing Beijing

Read: China Bashed Online For Its 'propaganda' To Promote Tourism In Uyghur Autonomous Region

(With ANI inputs | Image: AP)