Britain denounces abuses 'on industrial scale' in China's Xinjiang

Raab, in a recorded speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council, called for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet or another independent expert to be given "urgent and unfettered access" to the remote western region.

Britain's foreign secretary Dominic Raab on Monday denounced torture, forced labour and sterilisations that he said were taking place against Muslim Uighurs on an "industrial scale" in China's Xinjiang region.

Britain's Foreign Affairs Secretary Dominic Raab walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, (Reuters)

Raab, in a recorded speech to the U.N. Human Rights Council, called for U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet or another independent expert to be given "urgent and unfettered access" to the remote western region.

"The situation in Xinjiang is beyond the pale," he told the Geneva forum where China is among the 47 member states.