China is angry with the European Parliament over awarding the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought to Uyghur activist Ilham Tohti. To Beijing, Tohti is ‘a convicted criminal,’ the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated.
Beijing said it hopes Europe will respect China’s internal affairs and judicial sovereignty and not show support for terrorists. A government spokesperson said they did not know exactly what the prize entails. But I do know that Ilham Tohti is a criminal convicted by Chinese courts, she added.
Ilham Tohti is a former professor at Peking University. For years he advocated for more rights for the Uyghur population in the Chinese province of Xinjiang. Many Uyghurs feel oppressed by the Chinese government. According to human rights organizations, up to one million Uyghurs in Xinjiang are held in political re-education camps.
Tohti himself was sentenced to life imprisonment five years ago on charges of separatism and inciting ethnic hatred and violence. By giving him the prize, the European Parliament shines a spotlight on the situation of the Uyghur minority in China. “We strongly urge the Chinese government to release Tohti and respect the rights of minorities in China,” said David Sassoli, the president of the European Parliament.
Previously, in 2010, Beijing also protested when Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo received the Nobel Peace Prize. But because the European Union is also economically very important to China, the current protest remains only in words.
The Sakharov Prize is named after Soviet dissident and Nobel laureate Andrei Sakharov. Last year, the prize went to Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov. Nelson Mandela was one of the earlier recipients.