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
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.
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.
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“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.
“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.
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.
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.
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“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.
“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”.