Mahuta NanaiaHon NANAIA MAHUTA (Minister of Foreign Affairs): I stand in support of members' motion No. 1 and I acknowledge the unanimous support across the House for the motion.E uhi tai e uhi tai e. Uhi tai uhi tai e. E uhi tai ana koa ngā haemanga kei Haina. Kei tutuki tō waewae i te poro o te paewai. E uhi tai uhi tai e. [The tide flows the tide flows. The tide flows the tide flows. The tide flows over the ravines of China. Least your foot strikes the piece of driftwood. The tide flows the tide flows.]The New Zealand Government has publicly stated its grave concerns at the growing number of credible reports of severe human rights abuses taking place against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Since 2018 when reports began to emerge of large-scale extrajudicial detentions in the region we have consistently called on China to respect the human rights of the Uyghur people and other ethnic and religious minorities. The Prime Minister has raised our concerns at the highest levels with China's leadership and joined partners in amplifying these concerns at multi-lateral fora including the United Nations. My Australian counterpart and I issued a joint statement in March this year on Xinjiang and the Prime Minister reiterated our grave concerns as recently as this week at the China Business Summit.While the New Zealand Government has grave concerns about the human rights situation in Xinjiang we have not formally designated the situation as constituting a genocide. This is not due to a lack of concern. Genocide is the gravest of international crimes and a formal legal determination should only be reached following a rigorous assessment on the basis of international law. International courts have required fully conclusive evidence before reaching a conclusion of genocide. New Zealand has not previously made an independent determination of genocide; we've relied upon judicial findings of genocide in the case of Cambodia Rwanda and of course the Holocaust.The New Zealand Government in concert with others will continue to call upon China in the strongest terms to provide meaningful and unfettered access to the United Nations and other independent observers to ascertain the situation in Xinjiang. Aotearoa New Zealand will continue to work with our close partners to speak up to defend the human rights of religious and ethnic minorities in a meaningful way. We will continue to work with the United Nations international partners and relevant instruments of international law to bring these abuses to an end. We welcome Parliament forming a view and debating this critical issue. We are of course a democracy. It raises awareness of the issue in this House and in the wider community. We call on China to uphold its human rights obligations and to respond to the well-founded concerns of the international community.E hoa mā koinei anake te kahu o te wai. Taihoa kia rongo koutou i ngā mahi nanakia i oti ai rātou i ngā tau kua huri ā inaia tonu nei. Kia hōhonu te ruku i ngā whakamārama o te kōrero nei. Kia kaua noa iho tātou e mōhio ki te kahu o te wai. Uhi tai uhi tai e. [Friends this is only the surface of the water. Soon you will hear the full account of their cruelty over the years up until now. Let us dive deep into the details. Do not just focus on the surface of the water. The tide flows the tide flows.]