The ALDE Party condemns in the strongest terms the blacklisting of ALDE Party Vice President Ilhan Kyuchyuk MEP by China today in direct disproportionate response to the EU issuing sanctions on four individuals over serious human rights violations against the Uighur minority. 

ALDE Party President Hans van Baalen said: “I strongly condemn the sanctioning of elected MEPs such as ALDE VP Ilhan Kyuchyuk, ALDE colleagues, and individuals who rightly have been working to highlight the serious human rights violations against the Uighur minority in China. This action clearly demonstrates the need to revisit our relationship with China and consider, in addition to further counter measures, which further policy tools we need to ensure the respect for human rights, including through supply chain due diligence and the draft EU – China Investment Treaty.” 

In addition to Mr Kyuchyuk, China has blacklisted four MEPs and three European national MPs including Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma MP of ALDE member party in the Netherlands D66, as well as two European academics, and four entities including the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights. 

In his work in the European Parliament MEP Kyuchyuk has for many years sought to highlight the situation of the Uighur minority. In 2019 he nominated Ilham Tohti, an Uyghur economist fighting for the rights of China’s Uyghur minority, for the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. 

Sjoerd Wiemer Sjoerdsma serves as the Foreign Affairs spokesperson of D66 in the Dutch Parliament. He responded to the news tweeting “as long as China commits genocide on the Uyghurs, I will not remain silent.”

❌ I strongly condemn the Chinese sanctions of MEPs, @ALDEparty colleagues, and individuals who highlight serious human rights violations of Uighur minority. @ilhankyuchyuk @swsjoerdsma

Read my take on the recent counter-blacklisting by China 🇨🇳👇 https://t.co/SaT9Yn01AB

— Hans van Baalen (@hansvanbaalen) March 22, 2021