The word “Xinjiang” was frequently heard at the ongoing 44th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) as some Western countries and nongovernmental organizations never gave up their attempts to smear China’s human rights by hyping the topic, while more countries have expressed their appreciation for China’s stance in the region. Experts said that the majority’s support showed justice resides in people’s hearts and lies about Xinjiang will not fool all.
Belarus’ representative delivered a joint statement on behalf of 46 countries at the 44th session of UNHRC on Wednesday, supporting China’s anti-terrorism and de-radicalization work in its Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
The representative said that China has taken serious measures on countering terrorism and de-radicalization in accordance with the laws in Xinjiang. “We appreciate China’s openness and transparency which is evident from, among other things, inviting more than 1,000 diplomats, officials of international organizations, journalists and religious personages to visit Xinjiang, who witnessed Xinjiang’s remarkable achievements,” he said.
“There was not a single terrorist act in Xinjiang in the last three years. Safety and stability have been restored in Xinjiang and the human rights of all people in Xinjiang have been fully safeguarded,” he said.
Faced with the vast majority’s support, some Western countries, including the UK and NGOs, including the International Service for Human Rights, called on the international community to pay attention to “human rights violations” in China’s Xinjiang.
This is not the first time that representatives to the UN human rights session have divided into two sides with a sharp divergence on Xinjiang topics. International experts said that some Western countries’ accusations showed their hypocrisy and attempt to politicize the human rights council.
Predrag J. Markovic, a professor from the Institute for Contemporary History in Serbia, told the Global Times in an email interview that “The concept of human rights is often misused as a tool for an imperialist struggle for global domination.”
Hypocrisy is the middle name of the US political elite and some Western countries, and their second name is hidden imperialism, Markovic said.
“If we compare the amounts of money and efforts invested in US black neighborhoods to the avalanche of resources that [China] invested in Xinjiang, we could easily see which country really cares about its minorities,” he said.
Experts said that Western countries could never give up their attempts to hype Xinjiang topics at avenues on human rights. But the international community would not be fooled by a simple glimpse of the number of countries that support China.
In July 2019, around 50 ambassadors to the UN at Geneva signed a joint letter to the president of the UN Human Rights Council and the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to voice their support for China’s governance in Xinjiang.
Citizens shop in the International Grand Bazaar in Urumqi, capital of Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region on May 2, 2019. Photo: cnsphoto
