The international community has rightly become more alert to the threat posed by hostile states beyond their own borders. Putin’s war machine depends on networks that circumvent Western sanctions. Beijing’s repression does not stop at China’s borders. And dirty money and cross-border financial crime undermine the rule of law at home. Concerningly, the UAE has become a haven for all three problems at once.

Addressing this now matters because as the West is deepening its economic relationship with the UAE. The European Union is considering a bilateral free trade agreement, while the UAE is also pursuing accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). A closer relationship may bring economic opportunities, but the West should not avoid confronting some uncomfortable questions.

For me, the most disturbing aspect concerns the Uyghur people.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has subjected Uyghurs to a campaign of mass arbitrary detention, surveillance, religious and cultural repression, forced labour and torture in the Uyghur region. The independent Uyghur Tribunal concluded that China had committed genocide against the Uyghur people through the imposition of measures intended to prevent births. The UN Human Rights Office concluded in 2022 that abuses may constitute crimes against humanity, and Human Rights Watch recently reported that severe repression, including pressure on Uyghurs abroad, continues.

Beijing increasingly pursues those who escape its reach through what has become known as transnational repression. And the UAE has featured repeatedly in the evidence.

Research by the Uyghur Human Rights Project and Oxus Society identified the UAE among six Arab states participating in China’s transnational repression of Uyghurs. Human Rights Watch has previously documented........

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