IPAC Newsletter 26 November 2021

IPAC CALLS FOR REFORM IN WAKE OF INTERPOL ELECTION: IPAC has reiterated its calls for states to revoke extradition treaties with the PRC and Hong Kong following the election of senior PRC official Hu Binchen to the INTERPOL Executive Committee. IPAC has gained global press attention for its calls on democratic states to oppose Hu’s candidacy. IPAC statement.SCMP.Le Monde.ABC News.

UK OPENS DOOR TO DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTT OF BEIJING 2022: UK Ministers have no plans to attend the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, in a major step towards a full diplomatic boycott of the Games. The Leader of the House confirmed there have been “no tickets booked” for UK ministers to attend the Games, in answer to a question from IPAC co-chair Sir Iain Duncan Smith MP. Elsewhere, IPAC co-chair Guri Melby pressed the Norwegian government to refuse to attend the Games. Politics UK.CNA News.

ITALY MPs PUSH BACK AGAINST HIKVISION EXPANSION: IPAC member Enrico Borghi MP has called upon Prime Minister Mario Draghi to stop the growing prevalence of Hikvision security cameras across Italy. The parliamentary question cited cybersecurity concerns and the US ban on Hikvision for close links with the Chinese military and complicity in abuses in the Uyghur Region. Formiche.

NAKATANI LEADS CALLS FOR JAPAN MAGNITSKY LAW: IPAC co-chair Gen Nakatani has called on the government to consider developing a Magnitsky-style targeted human rights sanctions regime, in one of his first interventions as Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Human Rights. Nikkei.

UK HOUSE OF LORDS DEBATES UYGHUR GENOCIDE: A debate called by Lord (David) Alton on Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s reported remarks on a Genocide against Uyghurs saw calls for the UK government to take a tougher stance against the Chinese government’s abuses in the region. The debate saw 11-time Paralympic gold medal winner Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson add her support for a diplomatic boycott of the Games.