China’s ambassador to Chile Niu Qingbao criticized the report “Assessment of several concerning human rights issues in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region”, prepared by former president Michelle Bachelet and published a few days ago by the Office of the High Commissioner for UN Human Rights (OHCHR). The diplomat stated that the OHCHR document “is there to satisfy the United States and some Western forces with their intention to smear Xinjiang and attack China.”
In a letter sent to The MercuryLiu Quingbao assured that the UN report “is totally illegal and invalid”. First of all, he said, “this report is not authorized by the UN Human Rights Council, seriously violating the mandate of the OHCHR, which as part of the Secretary General of the United Nations aims to provide the support and necessary assistance for the work of the Human Rights Council and must carry out its functions in strict compliance with the relevant resolutions on the establishment of the same of the UN General Assembly, as well as with the prior authorization of the resolutions of the Human Rights Council “.
According to the Chinese diplomat, the OHCHR, the main entity of the United Nations in the field of Human Rights, “must respect and defend the purposes of the UN Charter and, based on the principles of universality, objectivity, non-selectivity and non-politicization, maintain constructive dialogues and cooperation with the member states, without interfering in any way in the internal affairs of the countries”. However, Quingbao questioned that said report “did not request the opinions of the Chinese government, nor was it authorized by the Human Rights Council, and violated the obligations and principles that the OHCHR must comply with,” making it “illegal and invalid.” .
Second, according to the letter signed by Ambassador Qingbao, the report was “plotted for a long time to subjectively support the pre-established conclusions”, clarifying that according to notes from the Western media, the OHCHR began the preparation of said report in 2019. , that is, “it was not based on the visit of the High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, to Xinjiang in May of the current year, nor did it include the official statement of the High Commissioner before the end of her visit to China.”
“The report is based on disinformation and lies fabricated by foreign secessionist forces against China, and insists on the presumption of guilt, while turning a blind eye to the serious damage caused by terrorism and extremism to the human rights of people of all ethnic groups in Xinjiang, and maliciously distorts the interpretation of relevant laws, policies and practices in China and Xinjiang. In this regard, the OHCHR has become a henchman and accomplice of the United States and some Western forces,” he said. Ambassador Qingbao.
Third, he warned that the actions of the OHCHR have aroused “strong dissatisfaction in all areas.” Quingbao said that most members of the international community, especially developing countries, “are very dissatisfied with this kind of behavior by the United States and some Western forces.”
“More than 60 countries and almost a thousand NGOs have jointly sent letters to the high commissioner, praising her for her visit to Xinjiang and asking her to reject the publication of this report, opposing the politicization of human rights, confrontation between groups and intervention. in the internal affairs of countries taking advantage of the human rights issue”, the Chinese ambassador specified, arguing that “the international community has the right to point out the errors of the OHCHR and it has the obligation to accept criticism and correct them”.
Finally, Niu Qingbao, emphasizing another report “that reflects the real situation”, recognized that the real situation of Human Rights in Xinjiang “is widely recognized in the international community”, despite the fact that he commented that since 2018 more than 170 groups of delegations from 132 countries have visited Xinjiang “to see with their own eyes the reality and development in that region, and all highly valued what they saw and experienced in Xinjiang.”
“I am confident that the lies of the United States and some Western forces about Xinjiang, no matter how they are disguised, will eventually fall short of the truth,” he concluded.
Let us remember that the former President of the Republic of Chile Michelle Bachelet held the position of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2022. The Secretary General of the United Nations will appoint a new High Commissioner, to be approved by the General Assembly in due course. Meanwhile, Ms. Nada Al-Nashif is acting High Commissioner.
China finds it very difficult to cooperate with the UN
It is worth mentioning that the United Nations Office for Human Rights “has closed the door to cooperation” with China after the recent publication of the report on violations and abuses in the Xinjiang region, according to the Chinese ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Chen Xu.
At a press conference prior to the opening of a new session of the UN Human Rights Council, the head of the Chinese mission assured that Beijing “cannot collaborate with the Office if at the same time it issues a report that harms cooperation “.
“We cannot continue as if nothing had happened,” added the head of Chinese diplomacy in Geneva, although he did not want to specify whether this position will imply invalidating the cooperation agreements on human rights reached in May during the visit to China of the then High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet.
Chen reiterated that the report, published 15 minutes before Bachelet finished her term as high commissioner, “is an instrument to blame, defame and contain China,” and speculated that the former Chilean president did not agree with its content.
“If I understand her motivation correctly, I think she did not agree with the report, and that is why she published it at the last minute,” said the ambassador, who also underlined the fact that the conclusions expressed by Bachelet at the end of her visit to China were very different from the text of the report.
The document indicated that numerous pieces of evidence point to possible crimes against humanity committed by the Chinese authorities in the northwestern region of Xinjiang, neighboring Central Asia, against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in the area, under the pretext of fighting terrorism and extremism.
At the press conference, the Chinese ambassador to the UN expressed his hope that Bachelet’s successor at the head of the Human Rights Office (the Austrian Volker Türk, whose appointment was announced this week) knows how to “build bridges” between the different positions in the UN on fundamental freedoms.
“We hope that it will work according to the principles of objectivity, impartiality, non-selectivity and without politicization, to promote a dialogue on an equal footing,” he stressed.
Looking ahead to the Human Rights Council session to be held from September 12 to October 7, Chen foresaw that the Xinjiang report could generate tensions, but assured that the Chinese delegation “will participate actively, in the spirit of constructive dialogue and The cooperation”.
In the debates that may take place in this regard, the Chinese delegation “will not provoke anything, but must be prepared for any scenario” and “will oppose any movement aimed at using the report against us,” the ambassador anticipated.
The most recent is that the US, Japan and the European Union expressed their concern at the Human Rights Council about the conclusions of the recent UN report on Xinjiang, although the UK went further and asked China to allow the entry of international observers. in the region to investigate such abuses. “This Council cannot remain silent when an ethnic minority is being attacked in such a brutal way,” said the British delegation in a session dedicated to reviewing different aspects of human rights in the world, although the report on the Chinese region of Xinjiang It was the most discussed topic.
