GENEVA (Washington Insider Magazine)– On Monday, the United States and many Western allies proposed that the U.N.’s top human rights council have a special discussion on allegations of violations and abuses of rights against Uyghurs as well as other Muslim minorities in western China’s Xinjiang province.
According to ABC NEWS, a core group of nations of the Human Rights Council, including Finland, Britain, Denmark, Canada, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway, were behind a draft proposal calling for a discussion on Xinjiang at the council’s upcoming session in early 2023.
In the setting of recent tensions over matters like the future of Taiwan, it amounts to the most recent geopolitical volley between the West and Beijing. If passed, the measure would be the first official inclusion of China’s human rights issues on the council’s agenda.
The 47-nation council is headquartered in Geneva, and diplomats there have been watching to see if Western nations would be able to summon enough political capital to introduce and advance a measure on Xinjiang before the committee’s current session expires on October 7.
The proposed measure would simply call for a council discussion, which occurs frequently, and falls short of urging the council to utilize more powerful tools in its arsenal to oversee rights violations, such as asking for independent experts to examine nations’ operations.
The proposed plan, albeit less invasive than it might have been, is nonetheless sure to infuriate China, which has resisted attempts to call it out and hold it responsible for the Xinjiang rights matter. Additionally, it would provide a specific time for the committee to discuss Xinjiang.
After the desk of former U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet released a long-delayed review last month suggesting “crimes against humanity” and other injustices occurred against Uyghurs as well as other Muslim minorities as part of China’s initiative against violent radicalism in Xinjiang in recent times, some Western nations have sought to increase pressure — or at least maintain it — on China.
The proposed resolution creates the conditions for diplomatic wrangling and a fight for international support: China has attacked Bachelet’s findings, promised to not cooperate with the U.N. rights agency, and launched a vigorous Public relations campaign to defend its Xinjiang policy.
Currently, the United States and China are both members of the council. The draught resolution is submitted 2 days before the deadline for presenting such proposals, allowing diplomats to review, edit, and maybe vote on it before the session is over.
A few Western officials have voiced concern that presenting a tough resolution could antagonise or exert pressure on some nations that have close economic and political ties to China. They have also expressed concern that the political gamble of displaying a resolution could backfire by giving Beijing the opportunity to demonstrate how much support it can muster on the global stage.
Human rights organizations claim China pushed one million or more members of minority groups into detention centers where many claims they suffered sexual assault, and torture, and were forced to give up their culture and religion.
The camps, which China claims have been mostly closed, have been justified as vocational and training facilities intended to provide employment chances and skills for communities who have been excluded from China’s recent rising economy.