Pakistan among 54 nations praising China’s human rights record – Newspaper

UNITED NATIONS: China's treatment of ethnic Uyghurs in Xinjiang province was debated at the United Nations on Tuesday, with 54 nations praising "Beijing's remarkable achievements in the field of human rights," but 23 states attacked its record .

It all started when the 23 nations, mostly Western, backed a British statement condemning Beijing's history.

However, China's allies responded to the measure with a statement of their own that gained even broader support, with 54 states supporting a Belarusian text that accumulated effusive praise on Beijing. They included Pakistan, Russia, Egypt, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Serbia.

The grieving statements at the UN General Assembly are not binding, but they highlight the division in China's human rights record, particularly as Beijing moves to make its diplomatic and economic influence abroad more flexible.

Human rights groups claim that more than one million Uighurs and other mostly Muslim ethnic minorities have been detained in internment camps in Xinjiang. After initially denying its existence, Beijing now defends the camps as "vocational education centers" that are necessary to counteract religious extremism and terrorism.

The UN declaration of Great Britain expressed concern "with regard to credible reports of mass detention; efforts to restrict cultural and religious practices; mass surveillance disproportionately directed at ethnic Uighurs; and other human rights violations and abuses."

"The Chinese government must … (abstain) urgently from the arbitrary detention of Uyghurs and members of other Muslim communities," he said. The countries that supported it were the United States, Germany, France, Canada, Japan and New Zealand.

In contrast, the Belarus statement praised Beijing's human rights record that gained support from more than 50 nations. "We commend China's remarkable achievements in the field of human rights by adhering to the philosophy of people-centered development and protecting and promoting human rights through development," the statement said.

"We also appreciate China's contributions to the international cause of human rights," he added.

Posted on Dawn, October 31, 2019