Sweden's bias clear in its Xinjiang criticism
Sweden's decision early this week to grant refugee status to all Uygurs and people of any other ethnic group from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region ridicules the international convention on refugees and will undoubtedly worsen its already tense relationship with China.
The UN Refugee Agency defines refugees as those who have been forced to flee their own countries because of persecution, war or violence. Those criteria, if followed to the letter, without any ulterior political motive, would mean no applicants from Xinjiang are eligible for such status.
By describing Uygurs in Xinjiang as victims of what it perceives as China's oppression, Stockholm is trying to name and shame Beijing, which it sees - through its biased glasses - as a human rights violator.
