There is a serious risk that Chinese authorities could perpetrate a "genocide" against the Muslim minority in Xinjiang province, members of the European Parliament warned Thursday.
It was not the first time that members of the EU assembly in Strasbourg spoke out against crimes against the Uyghurs, but it comes as Washington is also sharpening its tone.
The MEPs urged EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to follow the US lead in banning imports of Chinese products allegedly manufactured by forced labour.
The motion cited "credible evidence" that forced sterilisation and the separation of Uyghur children from their parents "amount to crimes against humanity and represent a serious risk of genocide".
The motion, passed with raised hands, is not binding on the Brussels authorities.
Beijing denies any repression against these minorities in this vast region in the far east of the country, despite mounting evidence from exiled Uyghurs, leaked documents and satellite images.
At the end of May, a trove of leaked files attributed to the Chinese police revealed what appeared to be a large-scale repressive operation directed from the top of the Chinese state.
China has justified some police action as anti-terror operations against alleged Islamic extremists, but NGOs and western governments now warn of indiscriminate persecution.
Reports by western NGOs and intelligence services accuse China of having interned at least a million Uyghurs and members of other Muslim minorities there in "re-education camps".
"Once the risk of genocide is proven, the EU and member states must take all necessary measures to end it, in accordance with the UN Convention on Genocide," French MEP Raphaël Glucksmann said.
"They have no right to look away, to act as if nothing had happened and continue business as usual with China," he warned.