UK lawmakers debate 'genocide' clause to China trade deals

LONDON (AP) — Lawmakers in Britain were set to vote Tuesday on a proposal aimed at preventing the U.K. from making trade deals with any country deemed by the British High Court to be committing genocide.

The amendment to the government’s post-Brexit trade bill, which already passed by a majority in Parliament’s House of Lords, is largely designed to force international action in addressing China’s alleged human rights abuses against the Uighur minority in the far western Xinjiang region.

Campaigners say that if the law passes, Britain would become the first country in the world to allow genocide cases to be considered in domestic courts.

The debate came as outgoing U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared Tuesday that China's policies on Muslims and ethnic minorities in Xinjiang constitute crimes against humanity and “genocide.”

Under the U.K. proposal, minorities alleging they have been the subject of genocide can for the first time apply to the High Court of England and ask for judges to determine if a country trading with the U.K. has perpetrated genocide. If the court makes a preliminary ruling against that country, Britain’s government would be forced to revoke bilateral trade agreements.

The proposal has the backing of all opposition parties and a significant number of rebel Conservatives. Leaders from Britain’s Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities have written a joint letter to the Times newspaper to back the amendment.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been facing increasingly vocal calls within his Conservative party for a stronger and more coherent policy on China that counters the country’s rights abuses and violations of international norms.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab last week called the trade bill amendment...