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UN members split on China’s Uighur rights record
UNITED NATIONS, United States, Oct 30, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – China’s mass
detention and surveillance of ethnic Uighurs in Xinjiang province came under
fire at the United Nations Tuesday, with 23 nations — mostly western —
backing a British statement condemning Beijing’s human rights record.
But China’s allies countered with a statement of their own that won even
broader support, with some 54 nations backing a Belarus text that heaped
effusive praise on Beijing’s “remarkable achievements in the field of human
rights.”
They included Pakistan, Russia, Egypt, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of
Congo and Serbia — which have all been criticised for their own rights
records.
The dueling statements at the UN General Assembly are non-binding, but
highlight the global divide on China’s human rights record — particularly as
Beijing moves to flex its diplomatic and economic clout abroad.
Rights groups say more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim
ethnic minorities have been rounded up in internment camps in Xinjiang.
After initially denying their existence, Beijing now defends the camps as
“vocational education centers” that are necessary to counter religious
extremism and terrorism.
China has embarked on a global public relations campaign to win support
for its Xinjiang policies — even convincing Muslim-majority nations such as
Saudi Arabia and Pakistan to voice support.
Britain’s UN statement Tuesday expressed concerns “regarding credible
reports of mass detention; efforts to restrict cultural and religious
practices; mass surveillance disproportionately targeting ethnic Uighurs; and
other human rights violations and abuses”.
“The Chinese government should urgently… (refrain) from the arbitrary
detention of Uighurs and members of other Muslim communities,” it said.
Countries backing it included the United States, Germany, France, Canada,
Japan and New Zealand.
But that statement was swiftly countered by the one from Belarus — where
China is building a massive industrial park — which praised Beijing’s rights
record.
“We commend China’s remarkable achievements in the field of human rights
by adhering to the people-centered development philosophy and protecting and
promoting human rights through development,” the statement said.
“We also appreciate China’s contributions to the international human rights
cause,” it added, while criticizing the “politicization” of the issue of
human rights at the UN.
Beijing on Wednesday blasted the British statement on its human rights
record, saying that the “anti-China performance by a small number of Western
countries ended in humiliating failure.”
“China’s actions in Xinjiang have effectively safeguarded the basic human
rights of all ethnic groups and protected the security and stability of the
region,” foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a regular press
briefing.
Geng urged the UK and the US in particular to “stop using human rights as
an excuse to meddle in other countries’ internal affairs.”
BSS/AFP/SSS/1709 hrs