Latvia has been raising human rights issues with China in regular contracts and consultations - Foreign Ministry

RIGA - Although in-person meetings with diplomats are not being held because of the pandemic, the Latvian Foreign Ministry has been raising human rights issues with China in regular contacts and consultations with Chinese colleagues, the ministry's press secretary Janis Bekeris told LETA. 

On Tuesday, France, Germany and other EU nations called in Chinese ambassadors to protest against sanctions imposed by Beijing on EU citizens and organizations for the EU's denouncement of China's treatment of its Uighur minority. France also berated the Chinese ambassador for tweets targeting French lawmakers and scientists. 

The spokeswoman for the Latvian Foreign Ministry indicated that Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics (New Unity) has also expressed concerns about the human rights situation in China, particularly in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, in his annual foreign policy report. 

Rights groups say at least one million Uyghurs and other mostly Muslim minorities have been incarcerated in camps in Xinjiang, where authorities are also accused of forcibly sterilizing women and imposing forced labor.

China has strongly denied the allegations, saying training programs, work schemes and better education have helped stamp out extremism in the northwest region and raise income.