UN Vote Rejects Uyghur Debate

Human Rights Council in the United Nations

The recent release of the UN report on the plight of Uyghurs in Xinjiang, China, is an important document that collates a lot of evidence to show the Chinese authorities may have committed crimes against humanity.

The report confirms what the Uyghur diaspora has been saying about their loved ones -- that they are separated from their families and children, placed in internment camps where they are forced to learn Mandarin and political indoctrination, in some cases women had forced sterilisations and endured rape. People had to do manual labour in factories, didn't have enough to eat, and endured terrible living conditions.

Red against, green for, and white abstained

As a follow-up to the report, today there was a proposal in the United Nations on whether to debate the alleged human rights abuses in Xinjiang next year. 

The result? Proposal narrowly rejected, with 19 against, 17 for and strangely 11 abstained.

Those who abstained? Argentina, Armenia, Benin, Brazil, Gambia, India, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico and Ukraine.

Ukraine! How strange, considering China has been supporting Russia in the current conflict.

And India too -- with its skirmishes with China one would think India would like to put China in the hot seat.

The South American countries may be getting some kind of cheque-book diplomacy? We may find out later.

HK protesters who supported Ukraine in 2019

In the meantime it is disappointing this report may fall off people's radars soon if there isn't a spotlight shining on it.

China must have been lobbying hard behind the scenes to get countries to vote no... If the countries for the debate aren't as organised then of course they are not going to have a steady block of votes.

The other reason is China is a permanent member of the Security Council which to some member states can be intimidating. 

In any event, this result does not bode well not only for Uyghurs but also Hongkongers if and when a debate about it ever came up. 

One wonders now if pro-democracy Hongkongers who previously supported Ukraine will now turn their backs on it? 

The tangled web of politics...