China welcomes Ukraine U-turn on Xinjiang human rights call

Name: Canada leads call by more than 40 countries for China to give UN access to Xinjiang
Uploaded: 2021-06-27T11:30:18.000Z
Duration: 1 min 11 s
Description: Canada leads call by more than 40 countries for China to give UN access to Xinjiang

Beijing warned Kiev it would block vaccine shipments if it did not withdraw from joint statement urging a UN investigation into treatment of Uygurs, report says

‘Maybe Ukraine felt ashamed that it would stab China in the back,’ commentary on Xinhua-affiliated social media account says

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Ukraine has ordered 1.9 million doses of coronavirus vaccine from Chinese developer Sinovac. Photo: Getty Images

Holly Chik

Published: 7:30pm, 27 Jun 2021Updated: 10:35pm, 27 Jun 2021

China has welcomed Ukraine’s withdrawal from a joint call for Beijing to grant the UN human rights chief access to Xinjiang amid reports that Beijing used vaccine diplomacy to persuade Kiev to make the switch.

Ukraine was one of more than 40 countries, including Canada, Australia, Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the United States, that last week urged China to allow immediate access for independent observers to Xinjiang to check alleged mistreatment of Uygurs and members of other Muslim minority groups there.

The statement, delivered to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, called for access to look into reports that more than a million people had been detained in the far western region – reports that Beijing rejects.

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Canada leads call by more than 40 countries for China to give UN access to Xinjiang

On Friday, Ukraine’s representative in Geneva said it had withdrawn its signature from the joint statement.

Associated Press cited two diplomats from Western countries as saying that Beijing had warned Kiev that it would block a planned shipment of at least 500,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines if Ukraine refused to drop its signature.

The Chinese government did not comment on the report, but it did welcome Ukraine’s decision.

The Chinese foreign ministry said on Saturday that Kiev’s decision “reflects its spirit of independence and respect for facts and conforms to the purposes of the UN Charter and basic norms governing international relations”.

“The moves of a few Western countries to interfere in China’s internal affairs, suppress and contain China and hinder China’s development under the pretext of human rights are unavailing,” the ministry said.

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