China asks UN to 'respect' its sovereignty after body decries treatment of minorities
China on Tuesday told the new United Nations (UN) human rights chief to respect its sovereignty after she called for access to its regions following “deeply disturbing” allegations of mass detentions of Muslim minorities.
Michelle Bachelet decried China's ongoing crackdown on the mostly Muslim Uighur minority in her first remarks as head of the UN rights watchdog in Geneva on Monday.
“China urges the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and its office to strictly abide by the mission and principles of the UN Charter to respect China's sovereignty,” said foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang.
China has long imposed draconian restrictions on the lives of Muslim minorities in its Xinjiang region in the name of combating terrorism and separatism, with police measures intensifying in recent years.
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Upwards of one million ethnic Uighurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities are being held in counter-extremism centres, according to estimates cited by a UN panel on racial discrimination last month.
Bachelet cited the work of the UN experts noting the “deeply disturbing allegations of large-scale arbitrary detentions of Uighurs and other Muslim communities in so-called re-education camps across Xinjiang”.
She called on Beijing to permit the UN rights office access to “all regions” of China and embark on a discussion of the issues.
In Beijing, the foreign ministry did not reject the request outright but told the UN rights chief and her office to “fulfil their responsibilities in a just and fair way instead of listening to only one side”, without elaborating further.
Last month a Chinese official said the tough security measures in Xinjiang were necessary to combat extremism and terrorism but did not target any specific ethnic group or restrict religious freedoms.
Comments (10) Closed
China should realize that Sovereignty does not mean human rights violations. When Millions of Muslims are forced to change their religion, if not being killed. This is not acceptable.
What does soverignity of a country like China has to do with it's mistreatment of minorities in general and Muslim minority in particular?
Pakistan is so reactive for a smallest development happens in Israel or India and now Why is Pakistan still partnering and supporting China?
@MG I agree we should talk to Beijing because this is not right of them. But the way you put it is also wrong. This is not a zero sum game. Pakistan-China relations are very important and are defining the 21st century Asia. But we must be able to address these issues with Beijing and Beijing must be willing to listen to us as brother do.
Pakistan must support iron brother.
With mounting Debts that Pakistan owes to China, in a decade or so Pakistan may become the next Uighur province of China. Gwadhar is already a Chinese territory, looking at the history of non-repayment of debt by Pakistan the Karakoram Gwadhar highway may soon be a Chinese property.
@desi dimag
Do they have a choice?
Because UN is so selective in its demands, China should ask them to mind their own business.
Compare this to the treatment of muslims in India.
@Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Wait until CPEC is complete!