Japan needs to do more than make an "empty promise" to stop human rights abuses in China, the leader of the largest ethnic Uyghur group in exile said in Tokyo on Friday.

Dolkun Isa, president of the World Uyghur Congress, said he had come to Japan to meet members of parliament and urge the government to press for a debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council on China's treatment of Uyghurs and other Muslims.

Japan's motions and statements on the issue are an "empty promise, not enough to stop the ongoing genocide," Isa told reporters.