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The release of a UN report on human rights in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region comes at a sensitive time for China as it prepares to hold its 20th party congress in October. Photo: AP Photo

UN’s Xinjiang human rights report expected to further strain relations between China and West

  • Beijing has rejected the conclusions of the report, which said its policies in the Uygur autonomous region ‘may constitute international crimes’
  • Beijing has blamed ‘anti-China forces’ for the findings, and some diplomatic analysts said the US would use them against the country
The United Nations report into Xinjiang, which found that the Chinese government’s actions “may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity” is likely to place further strains on the relationship between China and the West, according to diplomatic analysts.
Beijing bluntly rejected the findings, which were released on Wednesday, the last day of Michelle Bachelet’s tenure as UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The report, which followed Bachlet’s visit to the far-western region in May, linked Beijing’s employment policies to forced labour and said it found evidence of torture in detention camps.

Beijing has always strongly denied accusations that it had detained more than a million Uygurs and other members of mainly Muslim minority groups, and argued its “re-education camps” are designed to eradicate extremism and terrorism.

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Leaked state documents describe repressive operations at China’s detention camps in Xinjiang

Leaked state documents describe repressive operations at China’s detention camps in Xinjiang
The release comes at a very sensitive time for Beijing, in the run-up to the Communist Party’s five-yearly party congress in mid-October when President Xi Jinping is expected to secure a third term.
In July, Xi visited Xinjiang for the first time in eight years, after the United States slapped an import ban on goods from the region as a result of concerns about forced labour.

In a statement published on Thursday, Liu Yuyin, a spokesman for the Chinese mission at the UN, said the UN body report was “pure farce” and a “politicised document” plotted by anti-China forces who used human rights as a political tool to smear and slander the country.

“The so-called ‘assessment’, based on presumption of guilt, uses disinformation and lies fabricated by anti-China forces as its main sources,” the statement said.

Liu said the report maliciously distorted China’s laws and policies as well as its counterterrorism efforts while exposing deep-rooted bias against, and ignorance of, China.

UN report finds it ‘reasonable to conclude’ forced labour exists in Xinjiang

“The attempt of some Western countries and anti-China forces to use UN bodies to manipulate Xinjiang-related issues is doomed to fail,” he said.

Shi Yinhong, an international relations professor at Renmin University, said that China has the right to denounce the report, just as it rejected the World Health Organization’s request to make a second visit to China to undertake a new inquiry into the origins of the Covid-19 outbreak.

“This report was not produced by the UN; rather, it was the human rights commissioner’s own report,” said Shi.

While China upholds the international order in accordance with the UN Charter, Shi said this does not mean it will accept the judgments or proposals of every UN-affiliated agency.

UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet visited Xinjiang in May. Photo: AFP

However, he said that China would not allow the report to overshadow its relationship with Bachelet’s successor, unless he or she does something Beijing cannot accept.

“It is expected that after the report is released neither the attacks on Beijing’s Xinjiang policy nor the sanctions related to the region will be lifted,” Shi said.

“But it is unlikely that [the situation] will worsen significantly because the Western powers are preoccupied with other issues, such as the Russia-Ukraine war.”

Wang Yiwei, another international relations professor with Renmin University, said the report was the result of the UN’s efforts to find a middle ground between China and the West.

“The commissioner chose not to adopt the Western charge of ‘genocide’ but rather the unproven claim that certain actions could be crimes against humanity,” Wang said. “There was intense Western pressure to make concessions, which tragically reflects that the UN has been hijacked by the West at a high level.”

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China’s President Xi visits far western Xinjiang region for first time in 8 years

China’s President Xi visits far western Xinjiang region for first time in 8 years

Wang said the UN has now been made the front line for China’s confrontation with the West.

“Disputes between the West and China have existed over terrorism, cyberspace, privacy protection, digitalisation, Covid-19 and human rights issues. The report just represents the conflict in miniature,” he said.

“The claims of forced labour and consequent export restrictions will be justifications for the US to repress China, carry out decoupling, and start a new cold war.

“Similar conflicts will continue in the future. The battle between the West and China is growing more painful and profound, involving the clash of lives, livelihoods, souls, and values. China will stand up for real multilateralism and the UN’s principles,” he continued.

China to allow Turkish delegation to visit Xinjiang

“There are clearly aspects of Xinjiang’s governance that need to be examined and improved given the region’s emphasis on security and stability, but Beijing will never consent to the demonisation by the West.”

Wang also said Beijing’s focus in the region had shifted away from security towards economic development and tourism – a change signified by the replacement of former party chief Chen Quanguo with Ma Xingrui, the former governor of Guangdong.

One Chinese international affairs specialist, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Bachelet appeared to have made an excellent connection with the Chinese leadership when she visited, but changed her mind after she left.

A mosque in Kashgar where a banner in red reads “love the party, love the country”. Photo: AP

“It is unclear what exactly transpired during this process. Maybe there was an information gap, maybe both sides misjudged each other,” said the analyst.

He said China could manage the situation by trying to seek common ground with the UN rather than overreacting.

“Instead of further closing up the channels of communication, I believe China should engage in discourse to resolve any issues related to miscommunication. It’s also improper to criticise UN representatives in the same way that China criticises US officials,” he said.

“The report is not significant and won’t have much impact on China.”

China’s state media did not report the findings of Bachelet’s report on Thursday.

At a regular press briefing on Thursday, foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the report had been“planned and manufactured first hand by the US and some Western forces” and “is wholly illegal and invalid”.

“The report is a hodgepodge of misinformation and it is a political tool used as part of the West’s strategy of using Xinjiang to control China,” Wang added.

Wang said the UN rights office had “sunk to [becoming] the thug and accomplice of the US and the West against the vast majority of developing countries”.

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