China slams US for trying to deprive Beijing of UN forum seat over Uygur detentions in Xinjiang
- US diplomat says China’s treatment of Uygurs should be factor in deciding on membership to UN forum tasked with protecting indigenous people worldwide
- Despite US appeal, candidate Zhang Xiaoan was elected to 16-member forum along with four representatives from Burundi, Namibia, Denmark and Russia
China angrily assailed the United States on Tuesday for calling on countries at the United Nations to deprive Beijing of a seat at a UN forum over its treatment of the Uygur minority.
It was the second time in as many weeks that the two countries openly clashed at the United Nations over the rights of the Uygurs and other mostly Muslim minorities held in camps in China’s Xinjiang region.
Last week, the US invited the head of the World Uygur Congress, Dolkun Isa, to address the UN forum on indigenous peoples, infuriating China.
US diplomat Courtney Nemroff said ahead of elections on Tuesday that China’s treatment of Uygurs should be a factor in deciding on membership to the UN forum tasked with protecting indigenous people worldwide.
“The United States is alarmed that more than a million Uygurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslims have suffered arbitrary detention, forced labour, torture, and death in camps in China’s Xinjiang” region, said Nemroff.
“These atrocities must be stopped. We call on member states to bear this in mind in this important forum.”