Australia is a stable, democratic and culturally diverse nation with a highly skilled workforce and one of the strongest performing economies in the world.
The Australian and New Zealand Governments today reiterate their grave concerns about the growing number of credible reports of severe human rights abuses against ethnic Uighurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.
The Australian Government has been advised that Australian citizen Ms Cheng Lei was formally arrested in China on 5 February, after 6 months of detention.
The Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and the United States Secretary of State, reiterate serious concern regarding China’s imposition of new rules to disqualify elected legislators in Hong Kong.
Beijing’s disqualification of duly elected Legislative Council lawmakers seriously undermines Hong Kong’s democratic processes and institutions, as well as the high degree of autonomy set out in the Basic Law and Sino-British Joint Declaration.
The Government is disappointed and deeply concerned that Chinese authorities have decided to prosecute Australian citizen and academic Dr Yang Hengjun (Dr Yang Jun).
