Why Australia and New Zealand issued their own statement on US-led China sanctions

Canberra and Wellington clarified they were not imposing penalties of their own, after being briefly included in Washington’s statement announcing coordinated sanctions

However, they have backed the move, and say there is clear evidence of human rights abuses in the region, including sterilisation and restrictions on freedom of religion

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An Uygur woman on a scooter fetches school children as they ride past a picture of China’s President Xi Jinping joining hands with a group of Uygur elders in 2018. Photo: AP

Published: 5:36pm, 23 Mar 2021Updated: 6:06pm, 23 Mar 2021

Australia and New Zealand have expressed support for a sanctions blitz by Western countries against Chinese officials over alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang, despite not imposing penalties of their own.

The joint statement from Canberra and Wellington comes after the US State Department briefly included Australia and New Zealand in a statement announcing the coordinated sanctions – an apparent error the department, without public acknowledgement, later rectified on its website.

Australian foreign minister Marise Payne and her counterpart from New Zealand, Nanaia Mahuta, on Tuesday welcomed the coordinated move by the United States, Canada, the European Union and Britain to sanction Chinese officials and entities over the reported mistreatment of Uygurs and other ethnic minorities in China’s westernmost region.

“We share these countries’ deep concerns, which are held across the Australian and New Zealand communities,” Payne and Mahuta said about conditions in Xinjiang, where human rights groups and activists say about 1 million predominantly Muslim Uygurs are being held in reeducation camps against their will.

“In particular, there is clear evidence of severe human rights abuses that include restrictions on freedom of religion, mass surveillance, large-scale extrajudicial detentions, as well as forced labour and forced birth control, including sterilisation,” the top diplomats said.