Ramon Tremosa i Balcells (ALDE). – Mr President, I welcome this resolution on the mass arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and Kazakhs in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. I also want to salute Mr Dolkun Isa, President of the World Uyghur Congress. Respect for universal human rights, democracy and the rule of law should remain at the centre of relations between the EU and China.

This resolution condemns the increasingly suppressive regime that minorities, in particular Uyghurs and Kazakhs, face in China today. We call on the Chinese Government immediately to end the practice of mass arbitrary detentions, and to close all the camps in which one million people are arbitrarily imprisoned. An independent investigation mission should be allowed to visit Xinjiang and Tibet. Our resolution also calls on the Chinese Government immediately to release Uyghur scholar Ilham Tohti, and all other detainees.

Dear colleagues, China is a big country. It is also rich in ethnic and cultural minorities, from Tibetans to Uyghurs. It should not be scared of them. It should recognise and respect them. This would make China an even greater country. Free Uyghurs, free Tibet, free China.