Sir, – President Michael D Higgins and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will meet the Chinese premier Li Qiang who is here on a diplomatic visit (“China’s premier may be hoping to find a sympathetic ear in Dublin during visit this week”, Analysis, World, January 15th). This represents a perfect opportunity to leave the visiting Chinese delegation in no doubt as to the Irish response to the ongoing persecution of the minority Uighur population in the north western region of Xinjiang. The Chinese government has reportedly arbitrarily detained almost a million Uighurs against their will, placing many in “re-education” camps since 2017. Uighurs have suffered cruel, inhumane injustices, such as mass forced sterilisation of Uighur women, as well as being unable to freely practise their religion, speak their language or express other fundamental elements of their identity. This amounts to a gross breach of human rights, international law and may in fact meet the internationally accepted definition of genocide. Uighur activists are on record as saying they fear that the group’s culture is under threat of erasure. Our President and Taoiseach must not stand silent in the face of this terror for the Uighur people while meeting the second most influential Chinese political figure. It is imperative that they condemn this behaviour by the Chinese state and that we in Ireland, in the strongest possible diplomatic manner, reject completely the suppression of the entire Uighur people. – Yours, etc,
STEPHEN O’HARA,
Carrowmore,
Sligo.