BRUSSELS: The EU urged China on Monday to let independent observers into its troubled Xinjiang region and warned Beijing it must make concessions if it wants to agree a major investment deal with the bloc.
The call came during video talks between EU chiefs and Chinese President Xi Jinping largely focused on trade and climate change.
China has rebuffed past calls to grant independent access to Xinjiang, the resource-rich northwestern region where Beijing is accused of orchestrating widespread rights abuses against the region's Muslim Uighur population.
"We reiterated our concerns over China's treatment of minorities in Xinjiang and Tibet, and the treatment of human rights defenders and journalists," EU Council President Charles Michel said.
"We asked for access for independent observers to Xinjiang and we called for the release of the arbitrarily-detained Swedish citizen Gui Minhai and two Canadian citizens."
Rights groups, academics and journalists have documented a harsh crackdown against Uighur and Kazakh Muslims in Xinjiang, including mass internments, enforced sterilisations, forced labour as well as intense religious and movement restrictions.
Activists say roughly one million Uighurs and others have been incarcerated in brainwashing camps, though Beijing describes them as vocational training centres and says it is seeking to provide education to reduce the allure of Islamic radicalism.
At Monday's virtual meeting, which replaced a cancelled full summit with all 27 EU leaders, the Europeans also pressed Xi on Hong Kong, where the West says Beijing is attacking the city's historic freedoms.
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