By Muna Chand
In the Human Rights Council meeting held in Geneva, Switzerland on Thursday, Nepal has voted in favor of China in the voting regarding whether to proceed with further discussion on the proposal of human rights violations against Muslim Uyghurs in China’s Xinjiang province. Nepal, which is committed to the one-China policy, has voted in favor of Beijing, even though India, another neighbor of Nepal, remains neutral in its internal affairs.
19 countries, including Nepal, voted in support of China. Along with home countries China and Nepal, other South Asian countries Pakistan, Venezuela, Uzbekistan, UAE, Qatar, Sudan, Senegal, Namibia, Ivory Coast, Kazakhstan, Mauritania, Namibia, Bolivia, Cameroon, Cuba, Eritrea, Gabon, and Indonesia voted against the proposal. In the 47-member Human Rights Council, 17 countries, including the United States, voted to discuss human rights violations against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
According to the Human Rights Council, the United States, Turkey, Britain, Sweden, Canada, Lithuania, Australia, Norway, Denmark, Finland and Iceland voted in support of the resolution on human rights abuses against Muslim Uyghurs in China’s western Xinjiang province. However, 19 countries including Nepal supported China and voted against the proposal saying that it should not be discussed. Along with India, Ukraine, Mexico, Malaysia, Malawi, Libya, Gambia, Benin, Argentina and Armenia were absent at the time of voting, Kantipur wrote.
Diplomat Dinesh Bhattarai, who has worked as the head of Nepal’s permanent mission to the UN in Geneva, has claimed that the vote taken by the Nepalese government in the meeting of the Human Rights Council is based on the principles that the country has been adopting for a long time. Similarly, President of Nepal-China Mutual Cooperation Society Prem Sagar Poudel has said that Nepal has implemented the One-China policy that Nepal has been saying many times. President Poudel also says that it is in the interest of Nepal to stand firmly in favor of the One China policy. President Poudel thanked the Nepalese government for this. President Poudel thanked the Nepalese government for this.
