The federal government and Labor have blocked a Senate motion on Monday, which called on the Australian government to recognise Beijing’s actions in the Xinjiang region against Uyghurs as “genocide.” Brought up by Independent Senator Rex Patrick from South Australia, the motion centred on China’s human rights issue. Other than urging the Senate to recognise the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) actions as “genocide,” it also asked to push the CCP regime to abolish mass internment camps, cease coercive population control, and end the persecution against religious and ethnic minorities in China. Despite blocking the motion, both Liberal and Labor senators expressed concern over the current situation in Xinjiang and condemned the human rights violations against Uyghurs, according to the reports from Hansard. “As is often the case with matters as complex as this relating to foreign policy, we don’t deal with them as formal motions,” Liberal Senator Jonathan Duniam said. …