2024-01-23 14:20:05
The United Nations regularly reviews human rights records as the West criticizes China
(AFP, Geneva, 23rd) China was sharply criticized by Western countries during its human rights record review at the United Nations today, but it was also praised by countries including India and Eritrea.
The Beijing authorities are facing the Universal Periodic Review (Universal Periodic Review), a review that all 193 United Nations members must undergo every four to five years to assess the human rights records of each member state.
The large Chinese delegation insisted that Beijing had made great progress in improving people’s lives, eradicating poverty and protecting human rights.
Chen Xu, China’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, who led the delegation, said: “China insists on respecting and protecting human rights as an important task.”
But diplomats from Western countries have emphasized that China has suppressed civil liberties, fully implemented a national security law in Hong Kong in 2020, and suppressed dissent following a wave of pro-democracy protests.
Western representatives are also concerned regarding China’s repressive actions in the northwestern Xinjiang region and alleged attempts to eliminate Tibetan cultural and religious identity.
Irish Ambassador Noel White said authorities in Dublin are “deeply concerned regarding China’s continued suppression of civil society through harassment of human rights defenders and restrictions on freedom of expression, as well as the situation of ethnic and religious groups, including in Xinjiang and Tibet.”
The situation in Xinjiang, where China is accused of imprisoning more than 1 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities, has come under scrutiny.
Beijing strongly denies the allegations, which were made during the last universal periodic review in 2018.
Observers say China has been pressuring countries that support it to speak only in praise of China, and many countries do so.
For example, the representative of Eritrea urged the Beijing authorities to “continue to adhere to the system of regional ethnic autonomy and comprehensively promote ethnic unity and progress.”
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