The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has released a “final report” on Xinjiang. Here is an excerpt from its conclusion:
Serious human rights violations have been committed in XUAR in the context of the Government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter-“extremism†strategies. The implementation of these strategies, and associated policies in XUAR has led to interlocking patterns of severe and undue restrictions on a wide range of human rights. These patterns of restrictions are characterized by a discriminatory component, as the underlying acts often directly or indirectly affect Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim communities.
As might well have been anticipated the Chinese authorities reject the report:
Before the report was released, China’s ambassador to the UN, Zhang Jun, said Beijing was “firmly opposed” to it.
“We all know so well that the so-called Xinjiang issue is a fabricated lie [made] out of political motivations, and its purpose definitely is to undermine China’s stability and to obstruct China’s development,” he told reporters.
My question is who’s right? Are the Chinese engaging in systematic violation of the human rights of the Uyghurs, as averred by the OHCHR, or is the report false, as claimed by the Chinese ambassador? Both cannot be true. It may, however, be true that the report is simultaneously biased and politically motivated as well as being true.
I can’t adjudicate that completely but I doubt that the Chinese have singled out Muslims for abuse as the report implies. Their actions in Xinjiang are completely consistent with China’s actions in Tibet. I suspect that anyone who isn’t Han Chinese is a second class citizen in an increasingly nationalistic China.
