Xinjiang-related draft decision rejected

GENEVA — The United Nations Human Rights Council has rejected a Xinjiang-related draft decision tabled by the United States and several other countries at the 51st session of the Human Rights Council.

When the outcome of the vote in the 47-state body was shown on a big screen on Thursday — 19 against, 17 for and 11 abstentions — there was loud applause in the conference hall of the Palais des Nations in Geneva. Envoys of some member countries of the council congratulated Chinese diplomats there on the voting result.

Although the United States packaged the draft decision in a tactical way, and together with a handful of other Western countries pressured other members, the US-led attempt ended in failure.

To attract more countries to vote for the draft decision, the US and some other Western countries packaged it as a procedural issue that is neutral and has no political motive, a move that representatives of other member countries highlighted.

"This proceeding exposes the deliberate interest of Western powers to instrumentalize the Human Rights Council to advance their geopolitical aspirations and selectively condemn the People's Republic of China," said Juan Antonio Quintanilla Roman, Cuba's permanent representative to the UN Office at Geneva.

"Many say we should give the council the opportunity to debate. But those same countries that want to debate now, where have they been for all these years?

"When the Chinese delegation, session after session, has organized side events, photo exhibitions, talks with authorities from the Xinjiang (Uygur autonomous) region, visits of hundreds of people, including diplomats based here in Geneva … side events even during times of the COVID-19 pandemic, bypassing all obstacles, where have those countries been if they were really that interested in discussing the situation that concerns them in the People's Republic of China?"

'Dangerous steps'

Hector Constant Rosales, permanent representative of Venezuela to the UN Nations Office at Geneva, said: "We warn about the dangerous steps that this hegemonic country is intentionally taking to turn this council into a stage for politicization and confrontation, using human rights as an instrument.

"The word dialogue is therefore used as a synonym of imposition in this case, and we cannot be complicit in this continuous politicization."

Khalil Hashmi, Pakistan's permanent representative to the UN Office at Geneva, said: "Pursuit of an a la carte approach driven by political considerations carries the risk of further accentuating politicization and polarization. It also undermines the credibility of this important UN body."

Maira Mariela Macdonal Alvarez, permanent representative of Bolivia to the UN Office at Geneva, said the draft decision covers up "its real intention of political manipulation, seeking to include China on the Human Rights Council's agenda in order to attack constantly … this country in the coming sessions."

The move "clearly instrumentalizes the Human Rights Council for its geopolitical intentions", she said.

Chen Xu, head of the Chinese mission to the UN in Geneva, said the US and some other countries tabled the draft decision and packaged it as a procedural issue, attempting to justify the unauthorized and illegal "assessment" and to put Xinjiang-related issues that do not exist at all on the agenda of the council.

No matter how the draft decision is disguised, its ulterior motive is to take advantage of UN human rights bodies to interfere in China's internal affairs, he said.

"Xinjiang-related issues are by no means human rights issues. They are about counterterrorism, deradicalization and anti-separatism."

As a result of arduous efforts, Xinjiang has suffered no terrorist attacks for five years, and the human rights of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang are protected to the fullest extent, he told the council.

All country-specific resolutions of the Human Rights Council are aimed at developing countries, and the US and some other countries, overlooking their own serious human rights violations, point fingers at others, Chen said.

The result of the vote demonstrates that people have a sense of natural justice, he said, and efforts by the US and others to politicize human rights issues are doomed to fail.

Xinhua